Warisan laughs off BN’s dream of recapturing Likas

KOTAKINABALU: Likasassemblyman, Junz Wong, has laughed off the recent statement of Umno Kota Kinabalu deputy chief, Datuk Seruji Nawawi, that Barisan Nasional (BN) will be able to wrest the Likas assembly seat from the opposition.

“Likas voters voted for the opposition in the last general election (GE13) for check and balance because they know very well that it would be certain that BN would remain in power,” he said.

Hence, the Likas voters needed capable opposition leaders to voice and fight for their rights against unfair BN government policies, which Junz said is what he had been doing so far.

“So I haven’t betrayed my voters by continuing our struggle to push for a change of regime,” he said.

Junz added that he did not jump to BN even though there were plenty of opportunities for him to do so, if he wished, because he knew the reasons why the voters selected him.

“And I will never betray their trust,” he said.

He also said that initially, many voters in Likas were confused and angry at his action to set up Parti Warisan Sabah ( Warisan) together with Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, Darell Leiking and other leaders.

“However, I believe many have begun to see the rationality behind my move,” he said.

“If Likas voters were given a choice between the opposition or a new government to replace BN, you can be sure that they would have opted to change the BN regime,” he said.

He also said that Sabahans had always wanted a strong Sabah party to regain control of Sabah’s destiny by forming a Sabah- owned government which can make decisions for the best interests of Sabahans, without having to refer to the federal government.

“This is what Sabahans want and this is what Warisan and only Warisan can offer,” he said.

He added that Warisan had garnered overwhelming support in just nine months – a testimony that shows the majority of people in Sabah irrespective of their race and religion – were supportive of Warisan.

“In fact, many have walked up to me to give me words of encouragement and some, who were angry at me before, texted and called up to give support,” he said.

“Thus, I am very confident and positive that Warisan will win the Likas seat when we contest because the Chinese voters are showing great support while Muslim voters as well as others are firmly behind the Warisan struggle,” he said.

He also said that he believed Warisan could win a bigger margin in the upcoming election.

With regard to Seruji’s comments, Junz who is also Warisan vice-president said that Likas voters want to vote for a party that can topple the BN government and form the next Sabah government.

“Seruji should stop kidding himself as he knows very well that his BN leaders are now worried about losing power in the coming election,” he chided.

“With today’s economic slowdown in Sabah, caused by several burderning flipflop BN policies such as the GST, subsidy cut on many essential goods resulting in increased prices, ringgit depreciation due to drop in foreign investor confidence and the tourism tax, Seruji is still dreaming about wrestling seats,” said Junz.