KOTA KINABALU, Dec 5 — A total of 389 candidates out of the 596 who contested in the recent Sabah election lost their deposits. Former minister of tourism, arts and culture Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi, who contested the Segama seat as an Independent lost his deposit after obtaining only 1,644 votes.

Parti Rumpun Sabah (Rumpun) President Datuk Ismail Idris lost his deposit after obtaining only 41 votes.

Parti Impian Sabah (PIS) President Michel Alok @ Ilok also lost his deposit securing only 291 votes.

PIS recorded the highest number that lost deposits with 72 candidates, followed by Independent candidates (60), Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star Sabah) and Perikatan Nasional (PN), each with 36 candidates.

Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) saw 30 candidates lose their deposits, Warisan (23), United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) (15), Barisan Nasional (BN) (12) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) two candidates.

The Tulid seat recorded the highest number of candidates losing their deposits in its 14-cornered contest, with 11 failing to obtain more than one-eighth of the total votes cast.

SAPP president’s son Yong Yit Jee lost his deposit in Likas, securing just 837 votes. 

This was good news for the Election Commission and local authorities which collected more than a million-ringgit from parties and independents.

Including for not cleaning up their leftover election material within reasonable deadline.

PIS was the most generous contributor as it contested 72 seats and lost deposits in all. 

PIS treasurer Michelle Chin Ling Ling who contested in Kapayan obtained one of the highest votes for PIS with 487.

Chin said PIS’ foray into the 17th Sabah Election was the beginning of a long journey to champion for a better Sabah built on anti-corruption integrity, fair development with a long-term vision for prosperity.

Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) from Sarawak also suffered loss of deposits in the 14 seats the party contested. Its candidate Halman bin Maniuk for Banggi island got six votes — the lowest in the election. 

PBK chairman Soh Kee Suat @ So Chee Say from Papar likened the party’s debut to a meaningful step in expanding democratic choice for Sabahans, even though rejected in Sarawak.

Soh contested in Api-Api and got only 137 votes. Her West Malaysian husband Datuk Ronnie Loh Ee Eng, a former Sabah DAP treasurer and a nominated assemblyman, who is now deputy chair of PBK contested in Tanjung Aru and attracted only 346 votes.

The Sabah DAP nomination of Ronnie from Penang as its nominated assemblyman during the chief ministership of Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal was seen as the first downfall of the party in Sabah as local resentment built up against the appointment.

Loh later defected to Tun Musa Aman’s camp before the 2020 Sabah election. 

To the credit of PBK, in some constituencies, the party did manage to get more votes than local parties like Anak Negeri. 

For example, in Tanjong Kapor, its candidate A. Halim @ Abdul Halim bin Yussof got 166 votes over Anak Negeri’s Awang Karim bin Abdul Kadir’s 63.

In Inanam, PBK’s Gordon Lai Han Yung got 68 votes over Anak Negeri’s Joseph Linggian @ Joseph Chong who got 60 votes.

Overall, PIS got 13,265 votes but ended up paying RM360,000 in lost deposits to the Election Commission and RM216,000 to local authorities.

PBK got 1,337 votes and paid RM70,000 in lost deposits and RM42,000 to the local authorities. — Daily Express