Ranau: Paginatan Assemblyman Datuk Abidin Madingkir (pic) has dismissed talk that the six Upko assemblymen who hopped over to Warisan Sabah's side to enable it to form the State Government during the controversy following the 14th general election will rejoin their former comrades now in the opposition. He said reports to this effect in social media and Astro Awani were rumours. "I can assure it is not true because I am still with Upko. Not only that, since we are in the leadership in this area, we can see the support for us gaining every day. "We will continue to reach out to the people. This is a new era, and we will ensure that the people see a new type of leadership which is more engaged with the people.
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"This is also in line with the advice of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, who told us that all assemblymen must be in their own constituencies, so that it will be easier for the people to reach them," he said. He was speaking during the recent thanksgiving for the Paginatan Assemblyman ceremony that was held at the Kg Narawang Ranau Mini Dewan, recently. Abidin said his victory in the recent General Election is not his alone, but a victory for the people in Paginatan, who continue to have faith in Upko and its leadership.
"During the last General Election, after all the result came out, in Upko we could see that the people of Malaysia, especially in Sabah, have spoken and demanded for change. "That is what motivated us to make the decision to merge with Warisan Sabah to form a new government," he said. As the wakil rakyat in the area, he pledged to visit all the over 90 villages in the Paginatan constituency, including those that not frequented in the past, in order to ensure that the voice of the people here are heard.
