KOTA KINABALU, Oct 31 — Sabah DAP chairman Datuk Frankie Poon today said that the party will contest seven seats out of 25 parliamentary seats in the state including four Bumiputera seats, with four newcomers in the fray in the 15th general election (GE15).
He said incumbents for Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tenom — Chan Foong Hin, Vivien Wong and Noorita Sual will be defending their seats while the party will field new faces in four other seats.
Sabah DAP treasurer Henry Shim will contest the Papar seat; organising secretary Liau Fui Fui will contest the Batu Sapi seat; political education bureau director Grelydia Gillod will be contesting the Keningau seat, and committee member Oscar Sia Yu Hock will contest the Lahad Datu seat.
Poon said DAP has been advocating to build a truly Malaysian nation that embraces diversity, multiculturalism and multiracialism and that is why they have chosen to field young women, and those from a non-Muslim Bumiputera background to contest.
“This is why DAP Sabah has decided to take up the challenge to go against one of the most iconic figures in Sabah politics, Jeffrey Kitingan in Keningau. We want to offer Keningau and Sabah a fresh breath of air, new politics that are progressive and inclusive,” he said during a press conference this afternoon to announce the party's candidates for GE15.
Gillod, will take on the Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku president and deputy chief minister Kitingan in the Keningau seat — a Kadazandusun majority seat largely considered to be his stronghold.
“Meanwhile Sia, 34, is tasked with another important mission which is to reclaim a seat from one of those who betrayed us. The people of Lahad Datu were betrayed by Mohamaddin. That is why we are sending a determined young man to challenge Mohamaddin for betraying the people’s mandate,” he said referring to former federal minister Datuk Mohammadin Ketapi.
Liau, 39, served as political secretary to state ministers before being chosen as a candidate for the Batu Sapi seat which was held by the late Datuk V.K. Liew from Parti Warisan who died in October 2020 after the Sabah state election.
The party had a minor ceremony with a lion dance performance to commemorate the event and introduce its candidates at its office in Luyang today.
DAP is traditionally known for urban and semi-urban seats but broke convention by winning the Tenom seat in GE14.
In Sabah, they have been trying to break out of their preconceived mould of being a Chinese party by recruiting more local leaders and working the ground in the Kadazandusun and Murut areas.
