(from left) Ahmad, Dayangku Ayesha, Ibrahim, Yakub, Nerudin and Marajoh after their candidacy was announced.
KOTA KINABALU (Sept 12): The Karambunai state seat will see a six-corner tussle between Parti Warisan Sabah, Barisan Nasional (BN), Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (PGRS) and United Sabah National Organisation (Usno).
The candidates are Nerudin Ludah (PGRS), Ahmad Jais Prong (Warisan), Dayangku Ayesha Humaira Othman Shah (PCS), Datuk Seri Marajoh Unding (LDP), BN Datuk Yakub Khan and Ibrahim Linggam (Usno).
Returning Officer Thomas Logijin announced the candidates at 11.15am.
Dayangku Ayesha at 24 is the youngest and also the sole woman candidate in the fray. Ibrahim is Usno President, while Yakub is Deputy Umno Sabah chief.
Speaking to reporters after submitting her nomination papers, Dayangku Ayesha made it clear she was not letting her age deter her maiden foray into politics as she believed all the candidates had their own strength and uniqueness.
“To me everyone has their own experience and even though I am the youngest and the sole woman candidate (in the seat), it will not stop me from giving my best to the end,” she said.
Dayangku Ayesha also saw her contesting in the election as a good opportunity for the younger generation to play their role in the state’s development and in policy making.
“When they see that I can do it they will want to try too. This is our future and that of our future generations,” she said.
She added that there were several issues affecting the people in Karambunai and the most pressing one was the lack of clean water supply.
“How can this happen? Water is important element in our daily lives. Then there is the issue of villages not gazetted,” she said adding that all the unfulfilled promises by the previous Government had made the villagers disappointed.
If given the mandate, Dayangku Ayesha said she would do her best to address all these issues.
Her opponent Yakub also said gave his assurance to to voters that he would do his best to resolve issues affecting them.
“My commitment is to the rakyat in Karambunai and resolving the issues such as electricity and water supply, roads and land.
“I will also look into the issue of economy for the people in Karambunai which is an urban and sub-urban area. Most are affected by the Covid-1p pandemic and I will work to see how we can make business opportunities for them,” he said.
Another youth candidate, Marajoh when asked about being in a multi-corner fight said: “So in the six corner fight, I wish my fellow opponents the very best as we all have our own vision for Karambunai.
“For me, it is finding ways to reduce the poverty gap and improving the rakyat, especially the youth’s economy.”
Marajoh also said other than developing the youth’s economy, he would also be pushing for a more matured and clean politics.
“The time of smear campaign and dirty tactics is over. We should show respect for each other instead of bringing each other down. We present our best to the rakyat and let them choose who they want to be their elected representative,” he said.
PGRS’ candidate Nerudin who is a resident in Karambunai, pointed out that even though Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) was an industrial zone, job opportunities there are lacking.
“We have KKIP but not much job opportunities. The elected representatives here should have voiced out the matter and should have assisted the villagers who needed jobs by providing them with training,” he said.
Usno’s Ibrahim, who has resided in Karambunai for more than 35 years,also said that issues pertaining to the basic infrastructure in the area needed urgent attention.
“Umno was in power for 22 years but failed to develop the area and that is why they lost in the previous election. Warisan won and was in power for 23 months but also failed to bring any development to the area,” he said.