Let Taib decide my fate, says Belawai assemblyman

Thursday 2nd September

September 2, 2010, Thursday

SARIKEI: Belawai Assemblyman, Datuk Hamden Ahmad said that he is prepared to defend his seat for Barisan Nasional (BN) in the coming state election.However, he would rather leave the matter to Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud to give the final words, he said when met by The Borneo Post after visiting a community leader, KK Borhan Kree at the Male Ward of Sarikei Hospital yesterday.

As far as he was concerned he had never expressed his intention to step down either from active politics or as the people’s elected representative, Hamden said, explaining that although he had relinquished the assistant minister’s post, he had not given a thought to retiring from politics.
Since he won the seat in 1987, he had always given his utmost to serve the constituents, Hamden said, adding that he held on to the principle of doing his best to ensure that Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) in particular and BN as a whole, continued to command the support of the constituents.
He believed that the constituents were satisfied with him as their elected representative. Otherwise he would not have been able to defend the seat for five consecutive terms including when it was considered a `hot’ seat, Hamden said without elaborating.
“The fact that no big guns were deployed to the constituency in the last election is an indication that the seat was considered one of BN’s safest seats and I believe the situation remains the same till now.”
Reiterating that he had never expressed his intention to step down, Hamden said that he willingly gave up the assistant minister’s post for the sake of the constituents.
“The fact is, I want to spend more time serving my constituents. When I was assistant minister, I did not have much time for them as my responsibilities covered the whole state and sometimes I had to go on official visits abroad.”
He admitted that there was news of him contesting in the next election, but he dismissed it as rumours or mere speculations spread by individuals or group of people with ulterior motives.
“In this regards, I will leave the decision making to Pehin Seri as to the next best thing for me and I will respect his decision.”
Hamden was accompanied during his visit by PBB Belawai Women chief, Dayang Raoyah Abang Adeng, and an officer from the divisional Sarawak Special Affairs Department (Jasa), Ahmad Adai.