PBS’ Inanam candidate says more determined now
INANAM: Five years should be long enough for the people of Inanam to realise that the opposition are incapable of ruling their constituency, Barisan Nasional (BN) Inanam candidate Datuk Johnny Goh said.
After being dropped in the previous election, Parti Bersatu Sabah’s (PBS) Johnny is now more determined to reclaim the Inanam seat in the 14th General Election (GE14), thus resolving the numerous issues currently faced by the Inanam constituents.
“This year, I was given another chance by the Barisan Nasional leadership, especially Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who wanted me to continue serving the people. As he has said, ‘perjuangan belum selesai’ (the fight is not over).
“There are still many unresolved issues that I have to address. It looks like the opposition were unable to solve these problems even though after they became YBs five years ago,” Johnny told The Borneo Post when met at an event on Tuesday.
He said that he was overwhelmed by the support of the people of Inanam.
“I was given a second chance. I was dropped for five years. It was not easy and I am also getting older. However, I am now more determined. As I visited the villages, the villagers hugged me and some of them were even crying as they were shocked to see me return to Inanam,” he said.
He opined that being an opposition assemblyman in a government-ruled state should not be an excuse for failure as each assemblyman was given around RM10, 000 salary per month. This amount could have been utilised to help the people, he added.
Johnny held the Inanam seat for three consecutive terms, from 1999 to 2013. In GE13, he was replaced by Joseph Lantip.
BN eventually lost that seat to Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) Dr Roland Chia Ming Shen after the latter secured 8,926 votes with a 3,203 majority.
This time around, PKR state chief Christina Liew had decided to field Kenny Chua to defend the Inanam seat after Roland’s name was dropped.
Also vying for the seat are Jakariah Janit (PKS), Situl Mintow (Independent), Terrence Tsen Kim Fatt (Anak Negeri) and John Stephen Dionysius, making it a sixcornered fight for the Inanam seat.
Johnny added that he was pleased to see that the campaigning process for all BN candidates had been going smoothly so far.