[ad_1]
KOTA KINABALU: Eyebrows were raised at the close of nominations for the Sabah polls yesterday when it turned out that the allied parties will fight each other in 17 contests.
PBS participates in most of these contests. In some fights he will face STAR, his ally Perikatan Nasional. In others, it will fight the Barisan Nasional de Umno, PBRS or MCA parties. All of these parties are supposed to be allies of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah, a coalition recently announced by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Before nomination day, PBS announced that it would compete for just 15 seats. Of these fights, eight would be against BN. It would compete against Umno in Bengkoka, Tanjung Aru and Telupid, against PBRS in Matunggong, Tandek and Kadamaian and against MCA in Kapayan and Karamunting.
However, the party has deepened the gap between opposition parties by also running candidates in the predominantly Kadazan-Dusun-Murut constituencies of Moyog, Paginatan, Tambunan, Bingkor, Liawan and Tulid and the Muslim majority of Lumadan.
All of these additional contests have Umno, PBRS or STAR in the fray.
In Paginatan and Tulid, there will be fights between PBS, PN and BN, as well as other independent parties and candidates.
It should be noted that there are no confrontations between Umno and PPBM.
PBS Vice President Radin Malleh issued a statement yesterday saying that the party had done everything possible to avoid collisions with other opposition parties, but had not received the same courtesy.
Observers say these multi-front struggles represent a major setback for the opposition’s attempt to topple the ruling Warisan Plus coalition.
Many of the candidates are not well known, not even to the Sabahan public.
But there are some interesting fights up for grabs.
One of them is the contest in Moyog, where Warisan Vice President Darell Leiking is making his first foray into state elections. He will fight against six other candidates.
Moyog is within the Penampang parliamentary constituency, which is known for its volatility when it comes to changing its elected representative.
Another interesting contest will be in Inanam, which has 10 candidates in the fray, making it the second-busiest contest at the polls. Only the Bengkoka contest is more crowded, with its 11 candidates.
In Inanam, former Prime Minister Chong Kah Kiat hopes to make a political comeback by defeating, among others, PBS Supreme Council member William Majimbon, PKR’s Peto Galim and incumbent Kenny Chua, who is defending the seat as an independent.
Sabah PKR Director Christina Liew will face PBS Vice President Yee Moh Chai and seven other people to defend her seat in Api-Api.
In Kiulu, PBS chief information officer Joniston Bangkuai will fight an old friend of BN, Upko president Wilfred Madius Tangau.
There was resentment between PBS and Upko, a former component party of the BN, when the latter defected to support Warisan president Shafie Apdal after the May 2018 elections.
In Usukan, former Prime Minister Salleh Said is trying to return after losing his seat in parliament in the last general election. He was a deputy of Kota Belud, within which is Usukan.
Standing as a direct candidate for BN, Salleh will face rivals Warisan and Parti Cinta Sabah.
Another interesting contest to watch is in Tambunan. STAR President Jeffrey Kitingan is defending the seat against five other candidates.
Click here for the latest news on Sabah surveys
