Rayer shows 'red card' to PBS over Liverpool analogy

SANDAKAN POLLS | DAP's Jelutong MP RSN Rayer has given Parti Bersatu Sabah the red card for suggesting the party can seek inspiration from Liverpool Football Club's stunning comeback from a three-goal deficit to triumph over Barcelona Football Club yesterday.

On the contrary, Rayer said Sandakan voters should reject PBS for associating itself with a "foul-mouthed politician", in reference to Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin who had helped the party campaign.

"I am amused that PBS' Jonistan Bangkuai is using Liverpool's stunning victory against Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday as an antidote [sic: read anecdote] to inspire PBS in the Sandakan by-election.

"To begin with, it's ludicrous and laughable that PBS has found it fit to ask Bung Moktar Radin, the MP for Kinabatangan, to campaign for their candidate Linda Tsen in the Sandakan by-election.

"First and foremost, any right-thinking voter in Sandakan should reject any politicians who are foul-mouthed and disrespectful of women," he said in a statement today.

Earlier, the PBS supreme council member likened the Sandakan by-election to football, stating that "anything is possible".

"DAP may have won the Sandakan seat by a huge margin of more than 10,000 votes in GE14, but Liverpool's 'unbelievable' comeback from behind would inspire PBS and its supporters that despite being the underdog in the Sandakan by-election, it is capable of creating an upset.

"Let's do a Liverpool against DAP in Sandakan!" he had said in a Facebook posting.

Dismissing Jonistan's analogy, Rayer said PBS was associating itself with PAS and Umno that have been "spreading politics of hate and racial polarisation".

Furthermore, he claimed PBS bringing in Bung Moktar, who is facing corruption charges, will also backfire.

"I am certain that Vivian Wong, the DAP candidate in the Sandakan by-election, will be the correct choice for the people of Sandakan...

"Vivian Wong, you will never walk alone. The people of Sandakan will walk with you and vote you in as MP for Sandakan come May 11," he said, borrowing Liverpool's slogan.

The Sandakan by-election will see a five-cornered contest. It is largely seen as a two-horse race between DAP's Wong and PBS' Tsen.

The independent candidates are Chia Siew Yung, Hamzah Abdullah, and Sulaiman Abdul Samat.