All set: Bung Moktar (right) presenting Abdul Rahman with the candidacy endorsement letter in Kota Kinabalu for the Kota Belud seat.
Polls in the Land Below the Wind can be unpredictable
KOTA KINABALU: In the three- cornered contest for Kota Belud, most voters have decided that it is a fight between biru (blue) and putih (white).
Blue is Barisan Nasional which is fielding the two-term former MP Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan. White represents Parti Warisan, whose Isnaraisah Munirah Majilis is defending her seat.
The other colour is merah (red) of Pakatan Harapan, but former teacher Madeli @Modily Bangali has failed to excite most voters here.
GE15 is actually a rematch between Abdul Rahman and Munirah. In 2013, Rahman defended his seat successfully against Munirah, then a PKR candidate.
The Kota Belud fight is also shaping up to be between a likeable candidate (Munirah) and a candidate with a grand vision (Abdul Rahman) for the people and constituency.
Emotion rules in some of the 25 seats in Sabah.
In Tenom, supporters of Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masya-rakat (KDM) president Datuk Peter Anthony are still feeling raw that the Election Commission rejected his candidacy on nomination day on Nov 5. The decision led to the police having to use tear gas to disperse supporters trying to break into the hall, tainting the otherwise smooth nomination process.
Now that Anthony – arguably a favourite to win in Tenom – is not on the ballot papers, the big question is who will they support? Will they vote for Barisan, Pakatan, Warisan or the two independents – or will they even vote at all?
In a turn of events, independent candidate Reduan Rubin joined Anthony’s party on Friday.
(From left) Isnaraisah, Kiandee and Benedict.
This development is seen as giving Reduan an advantage as he is likely to win votes from Anthony’s supporters.
Interestingly, if Reduan wins, Tenom will see a father-son team. Reduan’s father, Datuk Rubin Balang, is the independent former assemblyman for Kemabong, winning the seat in the 2020 state election. He has since joined Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.
After his disqualification, Anthony moved the might of machinery and resources to Kota Marudu, about 260km from Tenom, to back another KDM candidate, Datuk Wetrom Bahanda who is up against Gabungan Rakyat Sabah candidate and Parti Bersatu Sabah president Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili.
Wetrom, who won the Bandau state seat (in the Kota Marudu constituency), quit as an assistant minister in the Sabah government last month to take on Ongkili, who has held the seat since 1995.
The fight for Kota Marudu – one of the poorest districts in Malaysia – is about whether voters want to change an MP who is seeking his seventh term.
It is the same in Tawau, where incumbent Datuk Christina Liew of Pakatan is facing the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition, Warisan, Pejuang and two independents.
The obvious fight is between GRS and Warisan in this east coast town and voters might have become apathetic about Liew, the Sabah Pakatan chairman.
They might feel the same way about incumbent Tuaran candidate Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau whose main opponent is GRS’ Datuk Joniston Bangkuai.
The two slugged it out earlier during state polls, which saw Tangau losing to Bangkuai in Kiulu; this time, Bangkuai is likely to take over Tuaran.
The people’s touch is essential in Sabah. For example, in the Penampang seat, voters want an MP who will attend their weddings and funerals.
“Five people died in the kampung in the last two months and so-and-so didn’t come,” declared a villager.
She listed the names of those who died and pointed out that it is expected of politicians in semi-urban and rural seats to turun padang (go to the ground).
Incumbent Datuk Darell Leiking of Warisan faces Datuk Ewon Benedick of Pakatan for the Penampang seat. It is the battle of the YBs as Leiking is the assemblyman of Moyog (a state seat in Penampang) while Ewon is the assemblyman of Kadamaian, a state seat in Kota Belud.
The fight for Opposition votes will be intense as both Warisan and Pakatan are the Opposition.
In Beluran, it is government candidate versus another government hopeful.
Incumbent Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee is contesting on the Perikatan Nasional ticket against Barisan’s Benedict Asmat.
It is one of two seats in Sabah with a langgar (breach) in the Barisan and GRS electoral pact.
The other seat is Ranau where Datuk Ewon Ebin is contesting on his party Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (a component of Barisan) ticket to challenge GRS’ incumbent deputy caretaker Home Minister Datuk Jonathan Yasin.
Barisan got the Beluran quota so GRS could not field Kiandee to defend his seat. At the very last minute, Kiandee managed to get Perikatan to nominate him.
Bersatu leads the Perikatan coalition, and its Sabah chapter is part of the GRS coalition.
Among Sabah’s complex and intricate alliances, sometimes friends can be enemies and enemies can be friends. The GRS parties, such as PBS, might support Umno’s Benedict while Sabah Star of GRS could support Bersatu’s Kiandee in Beluran.
But it is not all fierce wars.
Sabah Umno chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin should sail through and win in his stronghold Kinabatangan while Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal is unbeatable in Semporna.
A total of 119 candidates are vying for the 25 parliamentary seats in the state, with two coalitions, GRS and Barisan, working together while 2018 allies Warisan and Pakatan have parted ways.
When there is an election, expect the unexpected in Sabah. A federal minister or two might lose, incumbents could fall, and an unknown candidate could emerge victorious.
