PENAMPANG: Pakatan Harapan’s DAP Datuk Jannie Lasimbang is banking on her seven-year track record as she faces a 12-corner fight for the Kapayan seat, which she won with a 13,163 majority in the last election.
“I do not think it is because of what I have not done. If you look across the State, there are over 500 candidates this time around,” she said when asked if the unprecedented crowded field reflects poorly on her performance.
“I have not assessed why there are so many candidates fighting for one seat. But I see it as a trend rather than towards me or what they (voters) see lacking in Kapayan,” she said.
She noted that the campaign rhetoric has also shifted this election cycle, with less talk about undocumented immigrants and the economy and more on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the 40 per cent revenue demand.
"Mostly I hear people saying, ‘Kau party Malaya, kami party local’,” she said pointing out how opponents are attacking her party affiliation rather than her track record.
She also spoke about what happened to her after nomination day that caught her off guard.
“During a walkabout at Kepayan Square, I encountered some aggressive people who accused me of corruption and lying. Some criticised me for not speaking Chinese.
“This is hitting below the belt. This is dirty tactics,” she said.
However, Jannie said she received positive feedback from voters who have worked with her.
She recounted meeting a young voter who told her she was still needed in Kapayan and the elderly who praised her efficiency in distributing aid without requiring them to visit her office.
Jannie acknowledged ongoing issues like flooding and pointed out that many infrastructure matters fall under state agencies that have already been allocated funding.
Her role, she said, is to push these agencies to deliver.
Jannie also pointed out her work on women’s empowerment, noting that she began preparing women candidates in DAP and Pakatan Harapan two years ago, resulting in 50 per cent women candidates this election.
Additionally, she said her coalition has proposed changing the current ministry to the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Wellbeing and hopes a woman minister will lead it.
“I really want to see more women, strong women, in the cabinet and be a bastion for change in Sabah for women,” she said, noting that she has experience both in opposition and in government.
