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KOTA KINABALU: Sabah PKR President Datuk Christina Liew fights for political survival in the heart of the city.
The 69-year-old vice minister is not only defending her Api-Api seat for a third term in a nine-way fight, but she’s also facing three top leaders.
They are the president of the PLD, Datuk Chin Su Phin, the vice president of Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS), Datuk Pang Yuk Ming, and the vice president of PBS, Datuk Yee Moh Chai.
Yee lost the Api-Api seat to Liew in 2013, while Pang, a former Merotai assemblyman, joined PCS, which is led by former Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman.
Once a Chinese majority seat, Api-Api is now a mixed seat with Chinese and Muslim bumiputra representing roughly 40% of each of the voters. The rest are non-Muslim bumiputra and minorities.
Voting sentiment is likely to focus on state rights, Chinese school and socio-cultural issues, in addition to the local economy affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Liew, who has been on the campaign trail since nominations closed on Saturday, admitted that it was going to be a very challenging contest.
Observers find that the stakes have gotten higher for Liew due to PKR’s last-minute attempts to secure more seats.
It sparked concerns about PKR’s commitment to the Warisan Plus state government, which is seeking a second term.
While his partner DAP, a partner at Pakatan Harapan, has decided to use the Warisan logo, PKR sticks to his.
On his walk down Gaya Street yesterday, Liew said that although he was still trying to digest the number of Api-Api contestants, he wanted to focus on campaigning.
When asked how the nine-corner fight would affect his chances of winning, Liew said: “I think this is not the main thing I should reflect on.”
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