Ex-Suhakam official may be Sabah DAP’s CEC member

KOTA KINABALU: DAP is set to propose former Suhakam commissioner Jannie Lasimbang (pic) as a central executive committee member in a move seen as damage control after the resignation of its first Kadazandusun assemblyman, Dr Edwin Bosi.

“There is a vacancy.

“We intend to propose her (Lasimbang) for it.

“Then we will not only have a Kadazandusun but also a woman as a leader from here,” party adviser Lim Kit Siang told reporters after a Sabah DAP Malaysia Day function in Damai on Sunday night.

Kepayan assemblyman Dr Bosi’s resignation from the party last month was widely seen by political observers as a blow to DAP, which has been trying to make inroads into the Kadazandusun heartland.

Lim said Lasimbang, who joined the party earlier this year, has also been made the party’s coordinator for the Kepayan seat.

He did not rule out the possibility that she will be fielded there in the coming general election.

“It could mean that (she will be the candidate for Kepayan),” he said when asked if that was the reason she was made coordinator.

DAP won four state and two parliamentary seats in 2013 but three assemblymen – Junz Wong (Likas), Hiew King Cheu (Luyang) and Dr Bosi – have since quit, leaving the party with only one assemblyman Chan Foong Hin (Sri Tanjung) in the state assembly.

Sabah DAP chairman Stephen Wong said the state Pakatan Harapan had held discussions on seat allocations which, he added, were more or less settled.

“We had two rounds of discussions with a few overlapping demands,” he said.

However, the talks were only between the state DAP and PKR and did not involve other local opposition parties, including Parti Warisan Sabah led by Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

He said Pakatan Harapan would also be launching its manifesto for Sabah later this month.