KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan Sabah will defend the Batu Sapi parliament seat in the Dec 5 by-election.
Warisan vice president Datuk Jaujan Sambakong said a candidate had been identified and would be announced before the Nov 23 nomination day.
He said party president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal would make the announcement.
"A candidate has been identified, (whom) the president will announce," he told reporters here on Friday (Nov 7).
Most mainstream national and local political parties including Sabah Barisan, Pakatan Harapan, Parti Bersatu Sabah, Sabah STAR, Sabah Progressive Party and PAS have announced that they would not be contesting the by-election due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The by-election is being held following the death of its incumbent, Warisan's Datuk VK Liew on Oct 2.
Sabah Bersatu, led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, has yet to make a stand on whether the party will contest the seat.
Batu Sapi, which is part of the Sandakan municipality, is one of the Covid-19 hotspots in Sabah.
On Friday (Nov 6), when Sabah recorded the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases at 1,199, state minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said the by-election would have to be held under strict SOPs.
He said it could not be postponed and the Election Commission (EC) would be taking specific measures to put tight SOPs in place.
"It is a constitutional requirement and it has to be held. It cannot be avoided," said Masidi, who is the state's Covid-19 spokesman.
"We have to minimise the spread of Covid-19 in the state. I understand that the EC will take it into account in their SOPs," said Masidi, who is state Local Government and Housing Minister cum Finance Minister II.
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