Upko leadership urged to keep Bingkor in GE14
KENINGAU: United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organization (Upko) Keningau Division chief Datuk Justin Guka called on the leadership to contest Bingkor in the 14th general election, the seat quota given to the party.
He said this was based on the fact that Upko had its beginning in Bingkor since the early 1960s.
“Bingkor is the birthplace of Upko in Sabah under the leadership of former deputy chief minister, the late Datuk G.S. Sundang,” he said here yesterday.
Justin, who is also a former Bingkor assemblyman for two terms, said that since the early birth of many political parties in Sabah, Upko was re-established in Bingkor after obtaining an unanimous decision from the Barisan Nasional central leadership in 2003 during which Bingkor was allocated to Upko to contest in the 11th General Election (GE).
“I was the candidate from Upko picked to contest and I delivered it for BN with a majority of 3,802 votes.
“In the 12th general election, I was selected again to contest for the second term, I defended the Bingkor seat after defeating a PKR candidate,” Justin said.
But in the in 13th general election Upko was defeated when the leadership put up a young and new face as its candidate.
In fact, he said, the people of Bingkor through Upko Keningau Division still wanted to maintain the Bingkor quota for Upko in the upcoming 14th general election.
In reply to a question, Justin said he would hand over the names of candidates from Bingkor to the state BN leadership to represent Upko in GE14.
Justin was commenting on an online report on February 19 that BN had allocated Bingkor to Upko.
However, there were rumours have the party might be swapping Bingkor with Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) for Kadamaian seat in the Kota Belud parliamentary constituency.
“This is because Kadamaian, which is a PBS seat, is also the home of Upko Komulakan chief Ewon Benedik and after years of hardwork on the ground, it is possible that Upko wants to reward Benedik.
“This view is supported by the fact that Upko has largely been quiet in Bingkor while the party’s acting president, Datuk Seri Madius Tangau had visited Kadamaian quite often recently,” Justin said.
Kadamaian was won by PKR candidate Jeremy Malajad in 2013, defeating PBS candidate Datuk Herbert Timbon Lagadan by 889 votes.
“If that is the case, this explains why Bingkor PBS chief Peter Alliun has been active on the ground, campaigning for BN.”