By Shalina R.
Junz prepared to forego Likas
Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) vice president Junz Wong is prepared to forego the Likas state legislative seat for the sake of changing the present government.
The former Likas assemblyman, who admitted this here yesterday, said currently, there is a 5050 chance that he may not be contesting in the 14th general election (GE14).
If he does, the Warisan leadership have not yet decided on a state constituency, but had mulled the constituencies of Tanjung Aru, Inanam and even Tanjong Kapor.
“Not sure yet. We (Warisan) haven’t decided. We want to decide in these couple of days before the Election Commission (EC) announces the nomination date,” he said.
“Yes. Definitely not in Likas for the sake of the bigger picture. What to do! For the sake of changing the government. Yes, definitely. Definitely, it has brought, at least, DAP to come in to work together. Although not in the way that we really wanted them to be but at least they are still working with us.
“If we can’t find a seat, it means I have no place to go,” confessed Junz, adding that decisions on the candidates should be decided quickly by this week.
Junz said he “never had any intentions to go to Tanjung Aru” and noted that Warisan already had local leaders at the grassroots level that worked very hard to serve the people in every constituency throughout Sabah.
“They already have their leaders, some very popular potential candidates, we’ll see,” he said.
“We will be discussing about this soon. For the time being now we are still in preparation for all the machinery. We have been very busy about it, haven’t gotten time to think about it also,” added Junz.
The former DAP Sabah secretary said as far as GE14 is concerned, there is no more room for personal agenda and many other Warisan leaders would also not be contesting. “I am okay with it. Whether I contest or not contest, I will make sure that Parti Warisan wins the next election as the government. That is my ultimate focus. Help the party to win. Don’t worry about it. I think should be okay,” he said.
“Of course, if I am not contesting in Likas. If you say not sad, that would be lying. Even if not a bit that I am disappointed or I am feeling a bit bad, of course that is not true. But the bigger picture is consensus, the bigger picture is more important than personal preference,” emphasized Junz.
The vice president said he also had to break the news to some of his previous voters, who are disappointed to hear of the development.
“A lot of them actually expected me to contest, texted and called me to say that they will be voting. Asked me to contest and work very hard and said good luck, but of course, I have told them I am not contesting,” he said.
“I am calling out to all, not just Likas voters, to vote for any component who are working with Warisan. If DAP is contesting for the seat, vote DAP. We need to change the government. There is only one coalition led by Warisan and the rest of the components that actually has a chance to defeat BN. So we have to stay very focused all of us, all our voters,” he concluded.
Junz or Wong Hong Jun won the Likas state seat with 7,746 votes, a majority of 5,652, under the DAP Sabah ticket in GE13. He beat LDP’s Datuk Chin Shu Ying, who garnered 2,094 votes, SAPP’s Datuk Yong Teck Lee, 1,487, and STAR’s Ho Cheong Tshun, 155.
Ever since Junz left DAP for Warisan at the end of 2016, DAP had demanded for him to vacate the Likas seat, labeled him a traitor, ‘katak’ and even stressed that they are willing to work with other opposition parties but not with Junz.