Sabah Barisan chairnman Datuk Bung Moktar Radin with Sabah MCA chairman Datuk Teah Heok Kuin (second from left) with other leaders during the Chinese New year walkabout at Sunday Gaya Street Fair in Kota Kinabalu.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Umno is standing firm that those who defected or aligned themselves with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) will not be fielded in the state election scheduled this year, says its chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin.
The party would field candidates who are loyal and focused on serving the people and state, not those with personal motives.
He said Sabah Umno had taken steps to strengthen itself since leaving the GRS coalition led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
“As such, the question of candidates shifting loyalties will not arise as we have identified the right candidates for the state election,” he said after a Sabah Barisan Nasional Chinese New Year walkabout at the Sunday Gaya Street Fair here yesterday.
Bung Moktar was referring to Sabah Umno’s suspended assemblyman Datuk Shahelmey Yahya, who is Deputy Chief Minister III, and state assistant minister Andi Muhammad Suraydy Bandy, who continued to back Hajiji when Sabah Barisan pulled out of the GRS coalition in January 2023.
Shahelmey, the Tanjung Keramat assemblyman and Putatan MP, had said that he was preparing to defend his state seat but did not reveal if he would contest under a Barisan or GRS ticket, saying he would disclose this at the right time.
“As of now, I will contest,” said Shahelmey, who was also making his festive walkabout in Putatan.
If he opts to contest under the GRS banner, Shahelmey will have to quit as Putatan MP to conform with the anti-hopping law.
Bung Moktar had previously identified Sabah Umno election director Jeffrey Noh as the party’s Tanjung Keramat candidate.
Meanwhile, Bung Moktar, who is Kinabatangan MP and Lamag assemblyman, told reporters that Sabah Barisan had yet to decide on which Chinese-majority seats it would contest in the state polls.
“We have not decided, there is a possibility we will put up a candidate,” he said.
Among those accompanying him were Sabah MCA chief Datuk Teah Heok Kuin and other state Barisan leaders.
Sabah Barisan, which has repeatedly said it was not keen on an alliance with GRS, is widely tipped to form an electoral pact with Sabah Pakatan Harapan to harmonise with the federal unity government.
