(From left) Liaw, Chan, Yee, Yeo and Marcel vying for Kota Kinabalu. – Photo by Elton Gomes
KOTA KINABALU (Nov 5): Incumbent Chan Foong Hin (PH-DAP) is facing a a five-cornered fight for the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary seat in the 15th general election (GE15).
Chan is facing Amanda Yeo Yan Yin of Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan), Datuk Seri Winston Liaw Kit Siong of Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Malaysia (KDM), Yee Tsai Yiew of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) component party, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), and independent candidate Marcell Jude Joseph.
Chan is seeking a second term as Kota Kinabalu Member of Parliament while also defending the seat which DAP have won in the past three general elections.
Speaking to reporters after the nomination process ended, the 43-year-old Chan said he supported the involvement of youth and women in politics but in his campaign, he will urge the people to look at the bigger picture.
“It’s not about gender or age…it’s about the direction of the country. I always emphasise that the election is not just to choose the ‘wakil rakyat’ for an area.
“Among the ‘wakil rakyat’ they will choose among themselves who is the PM (Prime Minister) candidate. That is the ultimate goal of this election,” he said.
Chan said he would continue to raise and to try solve the issue of illegal immigration and stateless children among others, thus eradicating what he termed as an ‘eye sore’ in the heart of the city.
For the record, DAP has won the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary seat in the past three General Elections through Datuk Hiew King Cheu in 2008 and Datuk Jimmy Wong in 2013.
Chan then made sure DAP retained the seat in 2018 with a 24,086 majority, where he garnered 31,632 votes to beat Dr Joseph Lee Han Kyun (BN) who polled 7,546 votes and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Yong Teck Lee (SAPP) with 3,132 votes.
Prior to becoming MP for Kota Kinabalu, Chan was state assemblyman for Sri Tanjong from 2013 .
Chan was the second candidate to file his nomination form at the Kota Kinabalu Community Hall at 9:05am, where he was accompanied by proposer, the Luyang assemblyman Phoong Jin Zhe, and seconder Dennison R. Indang.
Yee, whose father is three-term MP Datuk Seri Dr Yee Moh Chai, was the first to file her nomination form at 9:02am followed by Chan and then Yeo at 9:08am, Liaw at 9:09am and Marcel at 9:11am.
Returning officer Robert Lipon confirmed at 10.46am that all five candidates have met all the criteria to contest in the polls.