Jimmy intends to defend K. Kinabalu seat in GE14
KOTA KINABALU: Incumbent Kota Kinabalu Member of Parliament (MP) cum Sabah Democratic Action Party (DAP) advisor Jimmy Wong Sze Phin intends to defend his seat in the 14th General Election (GE14).
That said, thought Wong expressed his wish to contest for a state seat in the next election, it was up to the decision of his party's leadership.
“For the time being, I intend to defend my seat (Kota Kinabalu parliamentary seat) but that has not been finalized yet.
“It is premature to comment,” he said when asked yesterday whether he would defend his seat in GE14.
Wong said he had talked to his party leadership about contesting in Kota Kinabalu if he was fielded as a candidate for state seat as he wished to assist his party in winning the Sepanggar and Putatan parliamentary seats.
He said the Malay votes were important to change the government.
He said the Malay voters had never been more divided with the Malay opposition party leaders each having their own supporters.
"The Malays' support for the opposition doubles the force and provides an excellent golden timing to topple the government."
Wong said Sabah DAP had done a lot of work in Sepanggar and he had also raised various livelihood issues that affected bumiputeras in the constituency at the Parliament.
"That's why I think it is best for me to stay in Kota Kinabalu to help the party in winning a few of the parliamentary seats here, as well as the Tanjung Aru state seat."
Nonetheless, Wong said he would leave it to his party's leadership to decide whether he was fielded as a candidate for parliamentary or state seat.
“If the central leadership wants me to contest, then I will. Otherwise, I will retire. After all, I am already 68 years old.”
Wong said he had never thought of going from Sri Tanjong state constituency to contesting for the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary seat in GE13.
“It was a last minute decision. I decided to contest in Kota Kinabalu for the sake of the overall situation.”
To another question, Wong said the local-based opposition parties would not have an impact should he defend the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary seat.
Wong opined that his majority might even be higher in GE14 as he claimed that over 3,000 Chinese voters had been shifted from Kapayan to Luyang constituency, which would augur well for Pakatan Harapan (PH) in both the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary and Luyang state seats.
He said only PH could replace Barisan Nasional (BN).
He said the local opposition parties would only split the opposition's votes.
Wong won the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary seat with 28,516 votes in GE13, defeating Chin Tek Ming (BN-PBS) and Liew Hock Leong (STAR) who polled 9,557 and 909 votes respectively.