Speaking to reporters after attending a gotong-royong in Manggatal here today, Rahman, who is also the Sabah BN secretary, said it is not a hard-and-fast rule to replace those who have been an MP or assemblymen after a certain period of time.
“In some areas, there are leaders who have performed well year in year out.
“Thus, there is no reason to replace them, especially if the voters still want them.”
However, he said it was important to give opportunities to new faces and young candidates but such is not a rule.
At the same time, he said those who had been serving for a long time should update themselves and understand the aspirations of the younger generation.
For instance, he said there are significant differences between the young people’s style of campaigning and the older people’s way of doing things, especially when it comes to social media.
“The older generation should embrace the new way of campaigning on social media.
“Young voters are more interested on issues affecting them directly. The older generation cannot be contented with doing things the old way any more,” he said.
Meanwhile, commenting on the progress of his campaign in Sepanggar, a parliamentary seat where he has been tipped to stand in the coming election, Rahman said he had been warmly received and supported by the people there.
“I have met lots of people during my many walkabouts — community leaders, religious leaders and businessmen
“They all want a better future. They want better education and business opportunities. They believe BN can deliver this.”
Rahman said as a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, he had the privilege of finding out the areas in the country with the highest potential for growth and Sepanggar was one such area.
Sepanggar, he said, had all that was needed to become the economic catalyst for the country and Sabah.
“It has a port, wide base of industrial lands, lively small and medium enterprises and a huge population of 300,000.
“The people here are open-minded and allow people from other districts to come and stay here, providing these people with jobs so the economy can grow.”
The Sepanggar seat has 62,000 voters, 51% of whom are Muslim Bumiputeras, 26% Chinese and 21% non-Muslim Bumiputeras.
Incumbent Sepanggar MP Jumat Idris, who has headed the Sepanggar Umno division since 2008, won the seat in the 2013 election with a 9,442-vote majority, polling 22,845 votes against DAP’s Jeffrey Kumin, who secured 13,403 votes.
Others in the race for the Sepanggar seat then were SAPP’s Chong Hon Kiong, who polled 4,070 votes, and Daniel John Jambun of STAR who obtained 1,931 votes.
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