KUDAT: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) deputy president Datuk Chin Su Phin yesterday urged Tanjong Kapor voters to give party president Datuk Teo Chee Kang their full support to ensure a landslide victory for the latter in the constituency.
For the past few years, Chin said Teo had demonstrated his commitment and diligence in serving the rakyat.
He said Teo, who was appointed as Minister of Special Tasks under the Chief Minister’s Department, has been working hard not only in the Tanjong Kapor constituency, but has also contributed significantly to the community, associations, schools, temples and churches in the State.
“Teo is certainly the best performing Chinese minister in the State Cabinet,” Chin said when officiating at the LDP Tanjong Kapor annual divisional conference here yesterday which also saw the inauguration of the BN cum LDP Tanjong Kapor office and activation of the division’s election machinery in preparation for the 14th General Election (GE14).
He said LDP leaders often aired the people’s grievances in the Parliament, State Legislative Assembly or through the media.
“Teo and I have also been voicing out weaknesses in the Barisan Nasional (BN) government system and urging the coalition to rectify the issues in BN meetings or when we meet with the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in private.”
He urged voters to fully support LDP candidates to enable its leaders to win the Tanjong Kapor, Karamunting, Merotai and Likas state seats as well as the Sandakan parliamentary seat.
He also called on the party members to work hand-in-hand with Teo to bring LDP to greater heights.
Chin said this when officiating at the annual conference of LDP Tanjong Kapor division led by Teo here yesterday.
On another note, Chin hoped that the BN top leadership would appoint federal ministers based on merit after the 14th General Election (GE14), rather than one’s political affiliations.
“Some federal ministers who are appointed because of their political affiliations are found to be unqualified for the job and are unable to contribute effectively to our country’s development.”
Additionally, he said BN must make bold changes in preparation for the GE14.
He said the next general election was going to be a challenging battle for both the ruling coalition and opposition parties.
He said the opposition front led by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad would definitely have an impact on the political landscape.
Speaking on politics, Chin said every move made by the ruling and opposition parties was intended to advance their own political interests.
“Umno keeps flirting with PAS in its attempt to capture bumiputera voters.
“The opposition parties had also been working with PAS in their attempt to topple BN.
“Today, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his former nemesis Mahathir are standing on the same side to oppose BN.”
Chin, however, believed that PAS would certainly not be accepted in the BN coalition given that all the component parties were strongly against the idea.
Moreover, he said PAS would suffer a huge loss in GE14 as a recent opinion poll revealed that the Islamic party only garnered six per cent of the young voters’ support.
“The only reason PAS was able to win so many seats in the last two general elections was because Democratic Action Party (DAP) had encouraged Chinese voters to support PAS.
“As a result, PAS has grown stronger and more determined to bring religion into politics.”
But religion and politics should not mix, Chin said.
Whatever issues BN may have, Chin fervently hoped that the voters could give some serious thought as to which party to vote for in GE14.
He said the opposition parties’ political tactics were always inclined towards creating negative rumours or falsehood.
“The opposition parties had alleged that the BN Government would go bankrupt many years ago.
“But the reality has proven that the BN Government is capable of administering the country well.
“In fact, we have attracted foreign investments from many other countries, especially China.
“Foreign investors would not have come if our nation did not have a sound economy.”
He said many voters perhaps wanted local political parties to govern Sabah, like our neighbouring state Sarawak.
“However, there are no local political parties capable of replacing the BN Government in Sabah as yet.”
While Chin did not deny the role opposition parties play in monitoring government administration, he said BN required the support of at least 30 to 40 per cent of the Chinese voters for the coalition to continue its governance of the country and bring more progress to the people.
That said, no matter whether the ruling coalition or opposition wins in GE14, Chin hoped that the defeated party would accept the outcome and work hand in hand with the government of the day to accelerate our country’s economic and social development.
“The constant bickering between political parties will not benefit our country and the people,” he said.