Six-cornered fights in three state seats this election, EC says

PUTRAJAYA, April 28 — Some nine state seats will see six-cornered fights, while the Merotai seat in Sabah will be the only seven-cornered fight come this general election, the Election Commission (EC) revealed today.

Chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah said two parliamentary seats also saw a total of six candidates nominated for the elections.

“The two parliamentary seats with a six way fight are the Keningau and Beluran seats in Sabah,” he said.

The fight in Keningau sees incumbent Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan of Parti Solidarity Tanah Airku take on Datuk Daniel Kinsik of Barisan Nasional (BN), and Jius Awang from Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS).

Also contesting against Dr Jeffrey is Jake Nointin from Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan), and two independents, Datuk Justin Guka and Maimin RiJanuary

As for the Beluran parliamentary seat, incumbent BN candidate Datuk Ronald Kiandee will take on Japar Zairun (Warisan), Toidy Luit (PCS) and Sipin Kadandi of Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah.

Two more candidates, Lem Matin (Pertubuhan Perpaduan Rakyat Kebangsaan Sabah) and independent candidate Salimah Oyong will also be vying for the seat.

“We will also have nine state assemblies seats that will see a six-cornered fights this coming elections while only the one state seat in Merotai, Sabah, will have seven contenders,” Mohd Hashim said today.

“Of the state seats with six contenders, three of them are in Penang; Prai, Jawi, and Sg Pinang; while the remainder are the Banggi, Pitas, Inanam, Bingkor, Sekong, and Bugaya seats in Sabah,” he said

He said for five-cornered fights, there will be six of such for parliamentary seats, while 31 other state seats will see five candidates vying for victory.

Mohd Hashim revealed the most common were three-cornered fights, with 151 parliamentary and 343 state seats having a trio of contenders this coming elections.

He said the EC had received a total of 2,333 nomination letters this year, 687 of them for parliamentary seats, and 1,646 for state assembly seats. 

Hashim said from the total of parliamentary nominees nationwide, 612 were men and 75 women.

He said 1,470 male nominees were named for state assembly seats nationwide, while only 176 women were nominated for state seats nationwide.

In 2013, there was only one parliamentary seat that saw six contenders, with only one seat seeing a seven-cornered fight.

As for state seats, in 2013, there were 10 six-cornered fights while also having only one seven-way battle.