Activist Jufazli joins DAP to ‘save Sabah’

He wants to contest in the Sungai Sibuga state seat held by Musa Aman in a bid to remove the Sabah chief minister from power.

PETALING JAYA: A youth activist who plans to challenge Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman in his Sungai Sibuga state seat in the upcoming 14th general election (GE14) has joined DAP as a life member.

Jufazli Shi Ahmad announced that he had joined the opposition party as he considered it to be “the best and most sincere” in helping the country and the state.

The 28-year-old said his parents and DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang bore witness to his entry into the party today, describing the occasion as a “historic day” in his new struggle for Sabah.

“I respect all opposition parties in Sabah and I appreciate very much the offers made to me to be a member by the other parties,” he said in a statement.

“But I need to choose the party that is the best and most sincere to save Sabah in Malaysia. Because of that, I chose DAP.”

He added that he had waited for this day to take his “honest” step for the people of the state.

Saying that he felt blessed at having made the move in the holy month of Ramadan, Jufazli added that he was a Muslim and was proud to have selected DAP in the effort to topple Musa and BN.

Musa, who is Sabah Umno chairman, won Sungai Sibuga with an 11,569-vote majority in a five-cornered fight in the last election in May 2013. He has not lost the seat since first standing there in 1999.

Jufazli had announced his intention to run there in December last year.

He had said he was giving up his job as a lecturer at a private university to concentrate on fighting for a better Sabah, and that he would be based in Sandakan, where the constituency is located, until the election.

On Nov 9 last year, Jufazli was arrested at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur and investigated for slander, sedition and offences under the Communications and Multimedia Act. He was detained until Nov 15.

He, however, said he was not prosecuted despite having been locked up in the Jinjang police station in Kuala Lumpur and Tawau station in Sabah.

On May 26 this year, he said he received a call from the police on a new case initiated against him, for which he is scheduled to meet an officer in Kota Kinabalu this Wednesday.

The activist, from Semporna, is a vocal critic of the Sabah government, especially with the recent corruption case involving the state’s water department.

A former director of the department and two others have been charged with money laundering involving a total of RM61.48 million. The case will begin on July 4. -FMT