Kota Kinabalu: A Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-Barisan Nasional (GRS-BN) candidate is banking on the ruling coalition’s performance in the state government to win the Papar seat.
Armizan Ali said unlike other parties or coalitions, GRS-BN did not rely on personalities but on its performance in power.
“In just 24 months, we have achieved so much compared to the previous Warisan-led government during their 27 months in office,” he told FMT.
“For example, we managed to increase Sabah’s annual revenue to RM5.4 billion, something that no previous government could do. And we did this during the pandemic which was not easy,” he said.
In terms of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), Armizan said GRS-BN managed to increase Sabah’s special annual grants to RM125.6 million, an almost five-fold increase from the RM26.7 million previously.
The state government’s acceptance of the increased payment was criticised by the opposition which insisted Sabah hold out for the 40% tax revenue from the state that it was entitled to.
However, Armizan said the increased payment was an interim measure and that the state government would continue to pursue its rights to 40% of the revenue the federal government derived from the state.
“We take what we can for now because if the issue is only resolved 20 years later, the federal government won’t pay the arrears, resulting in us losing out on millions.
“With this interim agreement, this money is already in the state accounts and with that money the government can carry out its plans to build 1,500 Sabah Maju Jaya affordable homes.
“Our struggle is not political rhetoric. The people can see and feel the changes under the GRS-BN government,” he said.
Armizan called it a blessing that the GRS-BN government had been in power for two years, as its track record would be at the heart of his campaign.
He said if GRS-BN relied on personalities, this would only distract the people from the state government’s performance and ability to effect change.
On his campaign, Armizan was thankful that all parties in the bloc were supportive of him.
He said former Papar MP Rosnah Shirlin was even mobilising the Papar BN election machinery for his campaign.
“I believe this cooperation will propel us to victory. I have a lot of things I want to do for the people of Papar. I hope they will allow me to do that,” he said.
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