KOTA KINABALU, Sept 10 — The Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) alliance line-up of 31 candidates will not include Tan Sri Musa Aman but will see the state Opposition field another former chief minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak.
Sabah BN election machinery chief Datuk Bung Moktar Radin announced a list of Umno candidates, with 95 per cent consisting of new faces.
Among the known names are Sugut assemblyman Datuk James Ratib and Former Kemabong assemblyman Datuk Raimi Unggi.
Bung will contest in Lamag while Salleh will contest in Usukan.
The dropping of Musa comes as no great surprise as Musa and the party’s central leadership have been reeling from the fallout after the former’s failed attempt to topple the state government.
However, Bung said that Musa had never asked to be fielded as a BN candidate.
“We always respect our leaders including Tan Sri Musa Aman but he never applied,” Bung said.
Yesterday, Musa had announced on his social media that he would be returning to Sungai Manila but did not elaborate on whether he would be part of any party.
Bung acknowledged that there could be possible sabotage among the parties as some may be unhappy with the choice of candidates.
“The possibility of sabotage is also very high,” he said.
He claimed that Umno was not trying to be dominant in BN but saw it as a collaboration for the mutual benefit of all.
“BN is not being dominant but we are in the same alliance. No issue of who will be chief minister,” he said.
Other allies, including Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia will be announcing its candidates at 3pm, while Parti Bersatu Sabah is due to announce its candidates at 5pm and Parti Solidarity Tanah Airku at a later date.
