KOTA KINABALU: Defeated by Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) in the 2018 election, Datuk Edward Yong Oui Fah is ready to wrest back the Tanjung Aru seat for Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) in the Sept 26 election.
The Tanjung Aru state constituency, traditionally a PBS stronghold, was held by the 64-year-old since 2004 when PBS was under Barisan Nasional (BN).
The seat was previously named Sembulan, which was also held by Edward since 1999, when PBS was in the opposition.
"This time, the election will be very challenging, because it will be an eight-cornered fight (for Tanjung Aru).
"I will face the main opponent, who is the incumbent (Datuk Junz Wong of Warisan)," he said when met after the nomination process at the Dewan JKR Sembulan here, today.
Others vying for the seat are Mohd Reduan Aklee of BN-Umno; Noran Addy Sukiran of Parti Cinta Sabah; Shaffic Risaib Shah of USNO; Rizawani Fiona Heng of Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah; Datuk Ibrahim Mohd Laiman Diki of the Liberal Democratic Party; and independent Jan Chow Yee Fah.
"This is a mixed area, but hopefully, the people will open their eyes and see PBS as a party than can deliver to the community and meet the needs of the rakyat in Tanjung Aru," said Edward, who joined PBS in 1995.
Speaking on issues involving Tanjung Aru, the former state lawmaker touched on the need to speed up development and tackle a lack of cleanliness, especially on Pulau Gaya.
He said the controversial multi-billion ringgit Tanjung Aru Eco Development project, planned during the BN government, should continue to create job opportunities, while also protecting the environment.
"Our aspiration is to win. We still have a lot of unfinished business, which we had planned but couldn't implement because we lost in the (2018) election.
"We hope voters will give us the mandate and we can fulfil what we had promised previously," said Edward.
This time, there are 15,473 registered voters in the Tanjung Aru constituency. In the 14th general election, Edward came in second after Wong won the seat with a 4,610 majority in a five-cornered battle.