Warisan may contest seats in peninsula in GE15, say party’s veeps

 

Warisan vice-president Jaujan Sambakong said elected representatives from the peninsula had expressed their intention to join Warisan. (File pic)

KOTA KINABALU: Warisan is likely to contest in West Malaysia in the coming general election, with the party already doing extensive ground work to establish its footing in the peninsula.

Jaujan Sambakong, one of Warisan’s three vice-presidents, said his party could contest in the peninsula as Warisan had already endorsed a proposal to spread its wings across the South China Sea at its annual general meeting last year.

The former Sabah deputy chief minister also claimed that elected representatives from the peninsula had expressed their intention to join Warisan, although he stopped short of identifying who they were.

He said no official date had yet to be fixed when the party would hold its official launching but their intention was clear.

Jaujan Sambakong.

“Why not (contest in the peninsula) if there is an opportunity? The fact is, we want to take part in the elections, not just in Sabah but also in states in the peninsula,” he told FMT.

Jaujan, who is Sulabayan assemblyman, said efforts are being made to identify suitable areas to contest as well as the potential candidates.

“So far, we are active in Johor, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, where we see the party is accepted well among the leaders and the people.

“It’s only coincidence that these places are also home to many Sabahans.

“But it doesn’t have to be that way (places with a majority of Sabahans).

“It’s not impossible that we could expand to Kelantan, Pahang, Terengganu and Kedah if there are requests from Malaysians there.”

In December last year, Warisan president Shafie Apdal had said the party would be going national, adding that the Warisan constitution does not prevent the party from having a national presence.

The former chief minister said the party will start with Johor and Selangor, where there are high concentrations of Sabahans, to start its divisions and branches.

Junz Wong.

Meanwhile, another Warisan vice-president, Junz Wong, said it was too early to be talking about which elected representatives would be joining the party’s ranks.

“Let’s move there first, then we can talk about this.

“But we are eyeing the states to contest there; we only need to sort some things out. Our agenda is there — we are open to all Malaysians, whoever subscribes to our ‘Unity’ struggle.

“Anything is possible in politics but we are likely to expand there in the interest of Sabahans and Malaysians in general,” said the Tanjung Aru assemblyman. - FMT