Mohamad is Sabah Umno’s pick

BEAUFORT: Sabah Umno is fielding its former Bongawan assemblyman Datuk Mohamad Alamin (pic) to wrest the Kimanis parliamentary seat as Barisan Nasional heads into the by-election as an “underdog”.

The Kimanis Umno chief is the top choice as he is known to voters in the constituency.

Sabah Umno chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin said they did four rounds of screening and found Mohamad to be the best candidate.

He said as a former assemblyman, Mohamad has the political experience.

“This is also the first time Sabah Umno had used its autonomy to pick an election candidate.

“We are ready to give Parti Warisan Sabah a fight to put Umno back on track in Sabah.

“A win in Kimanis will bring a huge positive impact, especially for the revival of Umno in Sabah, ” he said after a meeting at the Kimanis Umno headquarters here yesterday.

Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and senior leaders attended the meeting but left after it ended.

The Election Commission has set Saturday for the nomination, Jan 14 for early voting and Jan 18 for the by-election.

There are 29,644 voters in Kimanis, comprising 42% Muslim Bumiputras, 41% non-Muslim Bumiputras and 6% Chinese.

The two state seats are Membakut and Bongawan.

The Kimanis seat was declared vacant after the Federal Court on Dec 2 upheld the Election Court’s ruling, nullifying former foreign minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman’s victory in the 14th General Election in May 2018.

Anifah had announced that he would not defend the seat which he had represented since 1999 in the by-election as he wished to focus on the 15th General Election.

Bung Moktar said a victory in Kimanis would jump-start an Umno-Barisan comeback in the state, adding that other Sabah opposition parties would lend their support as they share a common objective.

“We are the underdog but we are optimistic about a win.

“We also expect it is going to be one-on-one against Warisan, ” he said.

Parti Warisan Sabah, the state ruling party, is widely seen to be favouring Datuk Karim Bujang, whose successful election petition against Anifah’s victory forced the by-election.

Chief Minister and Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal is expected to announce their candidate at the launching of the party’s operation centre in Membakut today.