GE15: Liew faces torrid time in Tawau, say analysts

KOTA KINABALU: Facing a double whammy of public image issues and internal party problems, Tawau incumbent Datuk Christina Liew may have a tough time defending the Federal seat in the 15th General Election (GE15), analysts say.

Since she won the seat in 2018, there had been talk online and on the ground that Liew was rarely seen in the constituency, making some locals question her contributions as MP.

Within Sabah PKR, she was ousted as its chief by the national leadership after the members felt she was not doing well on the Opposition bench against the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-Barisan Nasional administration.

She was, however, retained as Sabah Pakatan Harapan chairman.

Following the power struggle, political pundits felt that Liew would have leverage on the support from Tawau DAP's machinery instead.

Sabah UiTM senior lecturer and political observer Tony Paridi Bagang said Liew needs to focus on winning the contest and put the party issues behind her.

“Liew has her loyalists. Now the main aim is to win the seat.

"So, internal affairs (should) be put aside. She can still get backing from DAP supporters,” he told The Star.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s Dr Lee Kuok Tiung concurred, saying that Liew, who contested in 2020's Sabah state election, won the Api-Api seat then because of DAP support.

“Liew only managed to Api-Api with that support and help,” he added.

He also said following Warisan’s decision to go solo in GE15, Liew had lost a portion of the votes in Tawau, which now consists of 62% bumiputras, to the Sabah-based party.

“With Warisan also going for Tawau with its own candidate, Chen Ket Chuin, the votes will be split.

“These are additional challenges for Liew besides the internal party problems,” he said.

However, he said that with GRS-Barisan’s candidate Lo Su Fui not being touted as a strong opponent for Liew, victory depends on who makes the fewest mistakes during the campaign.

Liew, 70, will face off against younger candidates. Warisan's Chen is 28 and Lo from Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), under the GRS banner, is 40. Both are lawyers.

Three other candidates are contesting the seat: Pejuang’s Herman Andas, and independents Datuk Chin Chee Syn and Mohd Salleh Bacho.

In a press statement, Liew reiterated that she had implemented more than 30 infrastructure and public amenities projects through the Tawau Municipal Council.

Tawau voters saw an increase of 45.41% following the implementation of Undi18 and automatic voter registration, now having 87,129 voters from 59,919 in GE14.

Meanwhile in the deeper district of Kalabakan, the question remains over whether or not former four-term MP Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh’s daughter Noraini Ghapur would live up to her father’s legacy.

The locals here feel she should have followed in her father’s footsteps by contesting under Umno, but Noraini decided to go with PKR instead.

Abdul Ghapur lost his seat, which he held since 2004, to Warisan in GE14.

Noraini will be in a five-cornered fight with incumbent Ma’amun Sulaiman (Warisan), Dr Nur Aini Abd Rahman (Pejuang), Andi Muhammad Suryady Bandy (Umno) and Datuk Muhamad (Independent).