SABAH POLLS | For Warisan's N52 Sungai Sibuga candidate Armani Mahiruddin, the opportunity has finally come for her to step out of the shadows of two men who wield powerful influence in the state.
Armani is the younger sister of Sabah governor Juhar Mahiruddin, whose decision to dissolve the state legislative assembly had paved the way for the upcoming election.
She is also a former Wanita Umno leader and member under its Libaran division in Sungai Sibuga for over 20 years, the seat held by former chief minister Musa Aman since 1994.
"He (Musa) started in Libaran here. I also started here.
"So for me, I really understand what the rakyat here is looking for," said Armani in a joint media interview.
The 54-year-old, who holds the record for being the first woman elected as Dewan Negara deputy speaker, also insisted that the strength of Musa's influence and leadership has passed.
"For me, there is no challenge. I will face it with ease," said Armani, when quizzed whether she foresaw resistance from Musa's supporters, particularly within Umno.
The Sungai Sibuga semi-rural constituency had 35,454 registered voters across 17 voting districts in the last 14th general elections, according to Election Commission data.
Since then, close to half of the voters were moved to the newly created Sungai Manila seat.
Within Libaran Umno, over 20 branch chiefs initially demanded for Musa to be fielded in N51 Sungai Manila, but they soon rallied to support BN's candidate, Mokran Ingkat.
This follows Musa's initial indication that he would "return to Sungai Manila" after leading a failed political coup against interim chief minister Shafie Apdal's Warisan-led administration.
Up until nomination day, all eyes were still on whether Musa would contest as an independent after his name was absent from all candidate lists announced by BN, PN, as well as Parti Cinta Sabah which is led by his half brother Anifah Aman.
'Never given a chance'
Confident of rising above Musa's leftover links in Libaran, Armani brushed off the perception that her electoral debut was partly supported by family ties with the Sabah governor.
"Even though Tun Juhar is my brother, in terms of politics, we have no relations. He was never involved.
"I was nominated personally by Datuk Seri Shafie, not because of my brother Tun Juhar, nothing to do with him," she stressed.
Armani said she had long waited for an opportunity to contest an election but was never given a chance while in BN.
"I used to be the Umno Wanita exco, Sabah Umno Wanita chief, Sabah BN Wanita chairperson, and Tan Sri Musa's Wanita division chief.
"But I was never given an opportunity to contest," she said.
Armani joined Warisan along with over 200 Sandakan Umno members in May 2018, several weeks after Shafie was sworn-in as chief minister.
To date, she claimed many other Umno members from Libaran had followed their move and welcomed her candidacy, based on response from the early days of campaigning.
"From the beginning, they said they would wait for Warisan's candidate.
"So alhamdulillah I was nominated, and they are all very familiar with me," Armani said, adding that among issues she aimed to resolve are youth unemployment and upgrading basic infrastructure, including bridges and roads.
"They will feel the leadership of a woman who has long been here as their leader.
"Even though at that time I was not the YB... but they know how I treated them," she said when asked on her hopes come polling day on Sept 26.
Armani is in a five-corner contest against BN and Sabah-based parties LDP, Parti Cinta Sabah, and Parti Perpaduan Rakyat Sabah.
The candidates contesting the three state seats of Gum-Gum, Sungai Sibuga, and Sungai Manila, under the Libaran parliamentary constituency, are first time contenders with the exception of Warisan's Arunarsin Taib, the Gum-Gum incumbent. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.