KOTA KINABALU – The “sudden” spike in registered voters in Sabah has now caught the attention of the state’s opposition leader.
Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal questioned the supposedly large and irregular number of ethnic Indians in Kudat, as alleged by a Sabah Bersatu leader recently.
“I am deeply concerned by this. I have raised the matter with the Election Commission and sought the chairman’s explanation on this.
“I know this is not his (EC chairman’s) fault. We are aware it is the automatic registration system and those with Mykads coincidentally had addresses in Kudat,” he said when met after launching the party’s election machinery in Sepanggar here today.
“Since when is such a large number of people from this racial group in Kudat? Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against them (the Indians). I love all of them like any other.
“But I am questioning how their numbers are so huge in Kudat when the largest ethnic group there is the Bajau Ubian.”
Shafie said the National Registration Department must conduct a thorough check to correct any potential mistakes.
This came after Sabah Bersatu Penampang chief Datuk John Ambrose alleged that EC statistics show around 16,000 Indians in the district.
Ambrose’s claims could not be independently verified, but an image of the alleged figure has spread on social media via a group called Jalinan Rakyat.
In GE14, Kudat had a total of 52,251 voters with Sabah Bumiputera accounting for 73% of the votes, followed by Chinese and other races at 20%, and Malay 8%.
Warisan names Sepanggar and Penampang candidates
In another development, Shafie also named party deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking and newly appointed party information chief Datuk Azis Jamman as candidates for the Penampang and Sepanggar parliamentary seats.
Leiking is the incumbent for Penampang while Azis is the incumbent for Sepanggar.
Cooperation with PBS
Despite Warisan’s move to court Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) for political cooperation in the upcoming general election, Shafie said this was no longer possible as the latter has joined the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition.
“GRS Is a legal entity and that is as good as a political party. I don’t think it would be possible for them to jump (to cooperation with Warisan),” Shafie said.
Shafie had on numerous occasions expressed interest in working with PBS to have greater Sabah party representation in the Dewan Rakyat.
He said electing Sabah leaders from local parties would be better as they can directly fight for the state’s rights in Parliament.
Shafie said he will have to wait until after the election to determine if cooperation with PBS is possible. – The Vibes, October 22, 2022
