KOTA KINABALU: A former diplomat is widely tipped to stand as Parti Warisan’s candidate for the northern Kota Marudu parliamentary seat in the 15th General Election (GE15).
In a statement Friday (Oct 21), the party announced that Datuk Jilid Kuminding @ Zainuddin, whose last appointment was as Malaysian ambassador to Palestine, had joined the party.
Jilid submitted his membership form to Warisan deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking in a brief ceremony at the party headquarters here on Wednesday (Oct 19).
This comes days after Warisan gave a lukewarm response to Gabungan Rakyat Sabah’s Bandau assemblyman Datuk Wetrom Bahanda, who was reportedly keen on joining the party led by former chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
Jilid, 60, who retired in January this year after serving 33 years in the civil service, will now join the Kota Marudu Warisan division.
Besides Palestine, he also previously served as ambassador to Jordan as well as high commissioner to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
Should Jilid be named as Warisan’s candidate, the father of two is expected to go up against, among others, the incumbent Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili, who is also the Parti Bersatu Sabah president.
Wetrom was previously photographed with Shafie and expressed his keenness to join Warisan, believed to be due to his dissatisfaction over not being given the chance to stand as the GRS candidate in Kota Marudu.
Shafie, however, did not commit to offering Wetrom, a state assistant minister with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, to be the Warisan candidate for Kota Marudu.
Subsequently, it was speculated that Wetrom was casting his eyes elsewhere in order to stand in Kota Marudu after pictures of him meeting with Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) president Datuk Peter Anthony surfaced online.
A picture of Wetrom filling out a KDM membership form has also circulated over social media, but he has yet to officially declare that he has left Bersatu, a member of GRS.
