I have not abandoned Kapayan voters — Bosi
PENAMPANG: Incumbent Kapayan assemblyman Dr Edwin Bosi said he has not ‘abandoned’ Kapayan voters but wants the ‘best’ Penampang Member of Parliament to fight for Sabahans’ rights at the national level.
“I just moved to another party. I tell the people in Kapayan, my voters, I haven’t abandoned them. Have I abandoned them? My struggle is the same, struggle for the rights of the people in Sabah, for the natives especially, and I tell them, I am just going to the national level,” he said.
“I am not abandoning them. If I have abandoned them, I would have gone somewhere else, Moyog or Pensiangan but no.
“If you want to stay with me, stay with me, I’ll fight for you but at the national level,” assured the Parti Kerjasama Anak Negeri (Anak Negeri) Penampang candidate for the 14th general election (GE14).
When asked if he would make a ‘good’ Penampang Member of Parliament, he said no.
“No, I am the ‘best’. You need somebody who is older, who is a veteran, who is educated, who is daring. These are the characteristics, if you want to send somebody to the Dewan Rakyat. I believe I fit that bill because I have served here well and I think I will be able to do justice for Sabah, especially for the natives in the Dewan Rakyat,” said the witty veterinarian confidently.
“We cannot afford to send young people, young boys or young girls to the Dewan Rakyat because that place is fierce. You need someone who can stand the heat and fight.
“If you just send somebody who doesn’t know about the road of history in Sabah, ‘habis’ (finish),” he added.
Dr Bosi first made his political debut by battling for the Penampang seat under the PKR ticket with the then Upko president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok during the 12th general election (GE12) in 2008.
In the four-corner fight, he garnered 10,337 votes but Dompok prevailed by a majority of 3,063 and a total of 13,400 votes, whilst independent candidates, Dr Anthony Tibok and Levired Misih @Willybroad Missi, obtained 696 and 404 votes respectively.
In GE13, he used the DAP ticket to win the Kapayan state seat by a landslide of 13,020 votes, with a majority of 7,287, beating BNMCA’s Datuk Edward Khoo (5,733 votes), STAR’s Phillip Among@ Daniel Dell Fidelis (720 votes) and SAPP’s Chong Pit Fah (2,030).
“For five years, I believe I have contributed to the best of my ability in the state as a lawmaker, raised up issues pertaining to a lot of rights. I am a native rights’ advocate but I also speak for the Chinese. I also want them to have a Chinese museum. So I actually speak for everybody but that is at the state level,” he said.
Dr Bosi pointed out that not many people are aware about the equal rights shared by the natives and the Malays in the nation under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.
“How many natives in Sabah realize that the rights of natives and the Malays are the same? So that is why I said, I will stand up in Dewan Rakyat because I believe I have the same status as the Malay. No lower or higher, same. It is written in Article 153 in the Federal Constitution, and because of that we need to realize, we need to use this. They have to listen to us now, they have to,” he asserted.
Dr Bosi said he still holds the guarantees of the Keningau Batu Sumpah (Oath Stone), freedom of religion, Native Customary Rights land and other struggles fought by the Kadazan Golden Son, the late Datuk Peter Mojuntin.
“I have gone to fight the government about this. I want all the native and CR land to be surveyed and we are also talking about preservation and respect of our culture,” he shared.
For the second time since 2008, the Anak Negeri candidate handed in his nomination papers for Penampang at 9.08 am donning a sigah and clad in gayau (Kadazandusun headdress and attire) at the Penampang Cultural Centre on April 28.
He faces Parti Warisan Sabah deputy president Darell Leiking, who actually unseated Dompok by a majority of 10,216 votes under the PKR ticket during GE13, the people’s young ‘handsome’ newcomer, Ceasar Mandela Malakun (BN-Upko), and STAR’s Dr Cleftus Stephen Spine.