KOTA KINABALU, Sept 10 — With barely 48 hours to go before nominations for the Sabah state election, several major surprises emerged today, with the possibility of Perikatan Nasional (PN) clashing with its ally Barisan Nasional (BN) in three seats and Warisan Plus going into the battle using three logos.
Another major shock is that former chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman was not listed among the BN candidates because “he did not apply” while his name was also missing from the PN candidate list.
So, the question is on what ticket the incumbent Sungai Sibuga assemblyman would be contesting because Musa himself had indicated his intention to contest in the Sungai Manila constituency in this election.
Efforts to contact Musa for comment have been unsuccessful as at 7pm.
On the likelihood of BN and PN facing each other in Tulid, Sook and Paginatan, Sabah Bersatu chief Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the party would try to avoid these clashes and still has time to work things out.
He seemed surprised when asked by reporters about the possibility of these clashes when he announced the 29 seats to be contested by PN in the upcoming polls.
Nomination day is Saturday and polling is on September 26.
Bersatu, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) are the component parties in PN and they will contest under the PN logo while BN parties will be using the BN symbol of dacing (scale).
“There should be no (BN-PN) clashes because we want to win (the Sabah election); we will look into this. Nomination day is Saturday; we will try to do what is best for all,” said Hajiji.
In the other corner of the ring, Warisan Plus will enter the fight with three logos — Warisan, DAP and Amanah sporting the Warisan logo while their allies PKR and Upko will be using their own party symbols.
Today, it was announced that Umno will contest in 31 seats and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) in five seats, both under the BN ticket, while PN will vie for 29 seats and Parti Cinta Sabah will feature in all the 73 seats up for grabs this time around.
In the BN/PN camp, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) has yet to unveil its candidate list, as the announcement scheduled for this afternoon was postponed.
In the Warisan Plus alliance, PKR has yet to announce its candidate list.
Chief Minister and Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal will defend the Senallang seat he won in the 14th general election (GE14) while Sabah Umno chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, the Kinabatangan Member of Parliament, will contest in Lamag, which is in his parliamentary constituency.
Hajiji and STAR president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan will defend their Sulaman and Tambunan seats respectively.
Meanwhile, former International Trade and Industry Minister Darell Leiking, the MP for Penampang, and former Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi, the MP for Silam, have been nominated by Warisan to contest in Moyog and Segama respectively while former Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak has been picked by BN to contest in Usukan.
In another development tonight, BN component MCA announced that it will contest in four seats — Kapayan, Elopura, Karamunting and Likas.
Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), an ally of PN, announced that it will contest in 15 seats using its own logo.
The 15 seats are Bengkoka, Matunggong, Tandek, Kadamaian, Tamparuli, Kiulu, Inanam, Api-Api, Tanjung Aru, Kapayan, Limbahau, Kundasang, Melalap, Telupid and Karamunting. — Bernama
