LDP confident of recapturing Sandakan

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SANDAKAN: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is confident of recapturing the Sandakan parliamentary seat in the next general election.

Its deputy president, Senator Datuk Chin Su Phin, said the strong cooperation and unity among Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties and high commitment of LDP members in serving the people in Sandakan would enable the party to win back the parliamentary seat in the 14th General Election (GE14).

“Despite losing the Sandakan parliamentary seat in the last general election, our party members, especially the six divisions in Sandakan, had remained united and had never wavered from their commitment to serve the people in the area.”

Besides that, Chin said he had implemented various activities to strengthen cohesiveness among BN component parties since his appointment to lead BN Sandakan parliamentary division two years ago.

“The effort has effectively fostered better rapport and cooperation between leaders of Umno and other component parties.”

In fact, he said LDP had achieved a significant milestone this year when the party and other Chinese-based BN component parties in Sandakan, namely, Gerakan and MCA, jointly hosted a successful Chinese New Year open house.

Chin added that the party had also invited members of BN component parties to its mid-autumn festival celebrations.

“BN component parties, including Umno, Gerakan, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), MCA and MIC, remain our staunch allies and partners in working for the people in Sandakan.

“I believe the strong cooperation and unity among the BN component parties will enable LDP to recapture the Sandakan parliamentary seat in the next general election,” he said when officiating at the LDP Sekong division annual conference held here yesterday.

Chin was also appointed as the acting president of Sekong division following the suspension of the division during the last party crisis of LDP. After a year’s work, the division has now been restructured and has a complete line-up of Executive Committee, Youth and Women Movements.

On another note, Chin said a sizeable number of Chinese votes had swung back to BN in the recent Sarawak State Election and parliamentary by-elections in Peninsular Malaysia.

He said the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) had accomplished a major feat in wrestling back five state seats from Democratic Action Party (DAP) in Sarawak.

“The landslide victory in the Sarawak State Election shows that Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem has won the confidence of the Chinese community with his open-minded, people-oriented policies and pursuit of the rakyat’s interests.

“Adenan’s popularity has translated into the return of Chinese votes to his administration and the BN.”

However, Chin expressed regret on Adenan’s decision in not appointing a deputy chief minister from the Chinese community despite the resounding victory.

BN has always strived to regain Chinese votes but it is a tough battle, he said.

“Leaving aside the question on whether Adenan had actually promised to appoint a Chinese deputy chief minister during his election campaign, he should have done so considering the encouraging trend of the return of Chinese voters to the BN fold.”

Meanwhile, Chin said the opposition parties have exploited the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and RM2.6 billion issues in the recent by-elections in the peninsular, but yet failed to incite anti-BN sentiments among voters.

The reason, as he explained, was that the people were more concerned about the hudud laws tabled by PAS. Chin pointed out that DAP was largely responsible for empowering PAS.

“DAP has helped and supported PAS in the last general election, fuelling the Islamic party’s growing influence in the country. Although the opposition pact was unable to form the next government, PAS has become increasingly determined to push for the implementation of hudud laws by all means. DAP, on the other hand, is incapable of stopping PAS from doing so.”

Today, Chin said, DAP and PAS have gone their separate ways while PKR has split up.

“Even if PAS decides to join Pakatan Harapan one day, the opposition pact will not be able to make much inroads in toppling the BN government. This is because the people have seen through the opposition and their inability to collaborate as a cohesive unit.”

For instance, he said the opposition parties could neither agree nor compromise on seat allocations in the Sarawak State Election and by-elections in Peninsular Malaysia. The opposition candidates contested against each other in multi-cornered fights in the same constituencies, and suffered losses as a result.

“The voters have grown to resent the infighting among opposition parties. BN is not perfect, but it is currently the best option for the people.”

Meanwhile, he said Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had recently been charged with alleged abuse of power and corruption.

“If Lim Guan Eng is truly innocent, he should face the court case and trust that the judiciary system will be fair. However, it is unfair to voters if the Penang State Government calls for snap elections to gauge the level of public support for Lim Guan Eng.”

In the past, Chin said the Selangor Menteri Besar and the Malacca Chief Minister had both resigned from their posts amid court charges.

At that time, the opposition parties, including DAP, had called for both the Selangor Menteri Besar and Malacca Chief Minister to step down.

“Now that the situation is reversed, the opposition decided to consider early polls for Penang, further exposing their hypocrisy.”

Furthermore, he said the Selangor State Government had recently been shoved into the limelight due to suspicion of corrupt practices. PKR secretary general Rafizi Ramli, has recently lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) pertaining to allegations of graft and abuse of power involving the Selangor State Government.

On that note, Chin believed that Chinese voters would render strong support to the BN coalition in the next general election.

“If we can garner more than 30 to 40 per cent of Chinese votes, BN will secure two-thirds majority in Parliament and continue to govern Malaysia. We urge the Chinese community to think carefully as GE14 approaches and support BN.”

Chin however acknowledged that there was room for improvement in BN.

“But the people must understand that even if they vote for the opposition, the country will not be as stable, progressive and prosperous as the one under the BN administration.”