KOTA KINABALU, Sept 27 — Two new faces are among the seven female winners in the Sabah state election on Saturday.

The tough clash of two women from different eras in Kukusan captured the most attention after a new face fielded by Warisan, Rina Jainal, defeated a veteran from Barisan Nasional, Chaya Sulaiman, with the most slim majority of 10 votes.

Rina, 39, who is Kalabakan Warisan Wanita chief polled 2,834 votes against Chaya’s 2,824.

Apart from Rina, Perikatan Nasional-STAR candidate, Flovia Ng, 51, also sprang a surprise when she won the Tulid state seat after securing 2,267 votes in a seven-cornered fight.

Five other female candidates who received the people’s mandate in the snap polls were Sabah PKR chairman Datuk Christina Liew who retained her Api-Api seat; Julita Mojungki (PBS) who won in Matunggong; and three Warisan candidates who successfully retained their respective seats, namely Norazlinah Arif in  (Kunak), Manis Muka Mohd Darah (Bugaya) and Jannie Lasimbang (Kapayan).

The snap election saw a total of 43 women candidates, 29 of whom lost their deposits. — Bernama