KOTA KINABALU, Nov 8 — Sabah DAP will purportedly contest eight seats in the upcoming state election in a major candidate shake-up, bringing in two sitting MPs and three new faces to maximise the party’s chances of doubling its seat count.

In a leaked photo of the line-up ahead of its official announcement later today, Sabah DAP chairman Datuk Ginger Phoong is slated to contest the Likas seat, while deputy chairman and Kota Kinabalu MP Datuk Chan Foong Hin will stand in Tanjung Aru. Sandakan MP Vivian Wong will contest the Elopura seat.

Jannie Lasimbang is set to be the sole DAP incumbent defending her Kapayan seat, while former MP and current senator Noorita Sual will contest in Kemabong.

The three new faces are Tang Szu Ching for Tanjong Papat, Philip Yap for Sri Tanjong and Chan Loong Wei for Luyang.

DAP won six seats in the 2020 state election, but two assemblymen — Sri Tanjong’s Justin Wong and Elopura’s Calvin Chong — defected to Parti Warisan, leaving the party with four seats: Luyang, Likas, Kapayan and Tanjung Papat.

The 2025 line-up reflects a strategic reshuffle, dropping Likas incumbent Tan Lee Fatt — the caretaker assistant finance minister seen as underperforming — and placing the more popular Phoong in his stead. 

It also gambles the Luyang seat on Phoong’s protégé, Chan Loong Wei, who is Sabah DAP Youth chief.

Phoong is a two-term Luyang assemblyman, having previously won with commanding margins of 85 and 90 per cent.

Both the Luyang and Likas seats fall under the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary constituency, while Tanjung Aru comes under Putatan.

Chan Foong Hin is expected to face friend-turned-rival Datuk Junz Wong, the incumbent for Tanjung Aru. Junz, now Parti Warisan vice-president, is a two-term assemblyman who previously won Likas under a DAP ticket.

On the east coast, Vivian Wong — daughter of former DAP chairman Datuk Stephen Wong — will purportedly contest Elopura against Warisan’s Chong, who won the seat on a DAP ticket in 2020.

Vivian won the Sandakan MP seat in the 2019 by-election following her father’s death from a heart attack while serving as Sabah’s health and people’s wellbeing minister under the Warisan administration.

Her move to Elopura is seen as a tactical bid to reclaim the seat from Chong. However, she is also expected to face a challenge from Liau Fui Fui, a former DAP candidate who stood in Batu Sapi during GE15. Batu Sapi borders the Sandakan constituency.

Liau and her mentor, former Sabah DAP chairman Datuk Frankie Poon, quit the party last month, citing internal politics. Poon, once a strong contender, will defend his Tanjung Papat seat against newcomer Tang.

In the interior district of Kemabong, former Tenom MP Noorita Sual looks set to stand after stalled negotiations with Barisan Nasional’s Umno, which saw DAP concede the Liawan seat in Keningau in exchange for Kemabong.

A DAP source said the decision was “driven purely by data and electoral prospects,” adding that the party believed its chances were stronger in Kemabong, where Sual narrowly lost in 2022.

The incumbent, Datuk Rubin Balang, a six-term assemblyman, is currently implicated in a corruption scandal involving mining licences.

Meanwhile, in Tawau’s Sri Tanjong seat, newcomer Yap — a Tawau Municipal Council member — will purportedly face another ex-DAP assemblyman, Justin Wong.

All but one of the constituencies — Kemabong — are considered urban areas.

DAP will officially announce its candidates at noon today.