KIMANIS, Jan 17 — As the final hours of campaigning approaches, Parti Warisan Sabah candidate in the Kimanis by-election Datuk Karim Bujang believes he has done his best to convince detractors to sway to his side.
Expressing confidence that he can deliver the win for his fledgling party, Karim said the collaboration between Warisan and its allies has been instrumental in the campaigning and putting on a united front.
“I feel confident in the people’s support. The teamwork between Warisan’s machineries and other component parties are helping me in our mission to capture Kimanis.
“Based on the feedback I got from voters in Membakut, Bongawan and Kimanis throughout these two weeks of campaign, I think I can deliver a win for my party,” he said when met at his house in Kampung Brunei, Bongawan here.
The former Umno’s Bongawan assemblyman said that most people realised that the only way to develop Kimanis parliamentary constituency was to give the government the win.
The Warisan campaign has been run on the back of chief minister Datuk Shafie Apdal, who has been working tirelessly through ceramahs, festive celebrations and other meet-and-greets while his Warisan vice-president Datuk Peter Anthony has been working through the non-Muslim native communities.
They have favoured smaller, more personal and intimate approaches compared to Barisan Nasional’s ceramahs and flying in of national leaders.
BN’s Umno candidate Datuk Mohamad Alamin, Karim’s successor as Bongawan assemblyman, said that the former ruling coalition has done its work in reaching out to all voters including those in far-flung, hard-to-reach areas.
The one-term assemblyman said his coalition will work until the final hours to convince voters that they were the right choice to fight for Sabah’s voice.
“I am still going to the kampung to meet the people in this final round of campaign.
“The response is encouraging and I am hoping for the best. The power is with the people now,” he said.
In today’s final campaign, Umno’s president and deputy president made their final appearance and played tag team with former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is making his third appearance here in the two-week span.
The BN campaign is expected to culminate in an event in Membakut Jaya township today with Najib and other opposition leaders, while Warisan’s last known event is with Shafie in Kampung Likas, Binsulok, Membakut.
