Warisan candidate denies threatening voters

Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) candidate Datuk Karim Bujang yesterday denied threatening voters with withholding development in the constituency if the opposition wins the Jan 18 by-election.

He was referring to a statement by election watchdog Bersih 2.0, which claimed that such a move was outdated and contradicted the new government’s “Sabah Ubah” principle in having clean and fair elections.

Karim, however, said he did not remember making such claims.

“I don’t remember saying that one. What I did say was to ‘capture the moment’.

“Instead of going against the flow, it is better to be positive (about the current administration),” he said.

Karim said this during his campaign walkabout, where he greeted constituents and visited their houses at the Batu Enam district polling centre here.

“We are in the midst of a byelection.

“Whatever happens in this by-election, the current government will continue until the next general election in 2023,” he said.

The former five-term Bongawan assemblyman also hoped that social media would stop sensationalising issues about him.

“I would like to thank you for the coverage, but social media platforms have sensationalised issues about me.

“Take for example, a clip showing a voter allegedly scolding me.

“I was just coincidentally passing by and a man was angry at someone else because of unpaid salaries,” he explained.

Asked on another issue in which critics had questioned the authenticity of his degree from the United Kingdom, Karim said he pursued his education overseas 40 years ago under the Sabah Economic Development Corporation sponsorship.