KOTA KINABALU: Another UPKO senior leader has announced his intention to contest for the party’s deputy president post in the October 22 election.
UPKO vice president and Beaufort division chief Datuk Wences Angang said yesterday that he was joining the race to fill in the post which has been vacant since last year.
He is the third senior UPKO leader vying for the post which was vacated by co-founder Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Bumburing in 2012.
Bumburing has since set up Angkatan Perubahan Sabah and contested under the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) ticket for the Tuaran parliamentary and Tamparuli state seats in the last general election.
According to Wences, the decision to offer to contest was made after requests from grassroots members and supporters.
It is also in response to UPKO president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok’s statement that all party posts, including his, are open to contest.
“I am now leaving it to the delegates to decide on who they want,” Wences said.
Last Saturday, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Ewon Ebin who is also UPKO vice president, started the race by announcing his intention to contest for the number two post.
A day later, Tuaran member of parliament Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau made his announcement also to contest for the post.
Tangau who is UPKO secretary general, said that he arrived at the decision to contest after thinking long and hard about it.
“I now leave it to the divisions to nominate or not to nominate me for the post,” he said, adding that the post being vacant was also another reason he is offering to contest for it.
When asked to comment about Ewon also contesting for the post, Tangau pointed out that it is a healthy competition within the UPKO family.
“As what party president Tan Sri Bernard mentioned in his speech just now, we in UPKO practise democracy and this shows that we are heading towards a more matured democratic practice,” he said.