KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 — Dropping a bombshell a day before the announcement of its candidates for the Sabah state election, Barisan Nasional (BN) said today former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman is not listed among its contesting candidates.
The announcement was made by Sabah Umno chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, according to Astro Awani.
“I have not held any discussions on that (Musa going back to Sungai Manila).
“His name is also not on the list of BN candidates scheduled to be announced tomorrow,” he was quoted as saying.
Umno and BN are scheduled to announce their candidates for the coming polls tomorrow morning at 10am.
Earlier today, Musa announced that he would be contesting the Sungai Manila seat, one of the 13 new seats in the Libaran parliamentary constituency.
In a Facebook posting, the former Sabah chief minister and Sungai Sibuga incumbent said he will contest the seat but stopped short of explaining the change.
“I’m going back to Sungai Manila,” he said briefly.
Musa had won Sungai Sibuga with a 2,184 majority in the 2018 election, suffering an over 80 per cent loss in majority compared to GE13’s 11,569 majority, fuelling rumours that he had lost the confidence of his supporters on the ground.
He also faces challenges from within the party after a fallout following a failed ouster of the state government on July 29 and is said to have been with some 13 divisions who openly objected to Bung’s appointment as BN election director for the polls.
Yesterday, Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that they were “building a bridge” with Musa following political differences and were confident of mending it.
