Gaya: The candidates, the issues
The three candidates vying for the Gaya parliamentary seat are now in the thick of campaigning with each singing their respective tune of development, reforms and justice.
Barisan Nasional candidate Liew Teck Chan who was picked to defend the seat for the ruling coalition remains the frontrunner followed by Keadilan lawyer Christina Liew and businessman Hiew King Cheu of DAP.
Liew with the might of the ruling coalition on his back will bank on his gentle soft-spoken personality against Christina's agenda to right wrongs in the system and Hiew's pledge to provide the sole opposition voice from Sabah in Parliament.
Since former opposition Parti Bersatu Sabah's return to the BN, Sabah has no opposition members left in both the parliament and the state legislative assembly.
The remaining days for campaigning will see the three candidates traverse the capital city for the Chinese votes that makes an approximate 40 percent of the total number of voters, the coastal areas for the Muslim votes consisting slightly less then 40 percent and inland for the Kadazandusun votes for some 20 percent of the constituents.
Main issues that will likely be raised are the rapid development the BN has brought in to the constituency since returning to power in 1994, inconsistent government policies particularly related to the closure of one of the city's busy Gaya Street, presence of phantom voters linked to the large presence of immigrants in the state, relocation of squatters following the large-scale swoop in the state dubbed Ops Nyah II Bersepadu and the increase of parking fees in the City Centre township as well as introduction of parking fees at the city outskirts.
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