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KOTA KINABALU: With only four days to go before the nominations for the Sabah elections, another kind of coalition, the Alliance of Independent Candidates (ICA), has declared its intention to join the packed field.
Comprised of five people, including former Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) vice president Melanie Chia, ICA said it would compete for seats in the state capital, namely Inanam, Likas, Api-Api, Luyang and Tanjung Aru.
Chia, who resigned from SAPP at the end of last month, citing differences of opinion, said that the political events that unfolded in late July, leading to the dissolution of the state assembly, had led to uncertainty and were disturbing to the most people.
He said it had caused many to be disappointed and disillusioned with the democratic process and many had expressed their desire not to participate in the polls on September 26.
“Instead of giving up our rights, we have a responsibility to Sabah and therefore we offer ourselves as an option to the voters.”
In addition to Chia, who will compete for the Likas seat, the others are Achmad Noorasyrul Noortaip, Sim Sie Hong, Chin Ling Ling and Jan Chow Yee Fah, who will compete for the seats of Inanam, Api-Api, Luyang and Tanjung Aru. respectively.
Achmad, 33, is a local entrepreneur, Sim, 55, an architect, Chin, 49, an accountant, and Chow, 42, a social care project manager.
Chia said that if the five won their seats, they were open to linking up with another party or coalition to form the state government.
“But we don’t need to join the party, it is not necessary. If we are needed for the numbers to form the government, we will consider it, but only if the party’s position is in line with ours, ”he said.
“We are committed to being strong in our state. We hope that this commitment will be echoed by other independent Sabah candidates.
“As independents, we only answer to our voters. We can fully focus on our respective constituencies and our voters, as we don’t need to spend time on party politics. “
Achmad, who runs an email transportation service on motorcycles, said he wanted to be the voice of young people, especially for having the courage to participate in elections.
“Even if I don’t become an elected representative, I will continue to urge the younger generation to get involved in politics. But I can do much more if I am elected, ”he said.
Sim, former president of the Malaysian Association of Architects of Sabah, said political parties were not the only answer to continued development.
“Many politicians are assigned positions (in government) but they don’t know what to do. The important thing is to get the right people in the right job, “he said.
Chin believes it is time to bring new leaders into state politics and governance rather than “recycling” the same old faces.
“We need new faces, new people who are of high quality,” he said.
