KOTA KINABALU: Sarawak-based Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK), which has struggled to gain traction in its home state, is now trying its luck in Sabah ahead of the upcoming state election.
PBK president Voon Lee Shan announced the launch of the party’s Sabah chapter and invited people to step forward as potential candidates.
“Those who wish to stand as candidates must fund their own campaign. We do not want opportunists,” he said at the launch ceremony here yesterday.
At the event, former nominated assemblyman Datuk Ronnie Loh – who was previously with DAP and Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat – was named deputy chairman, while his wife Soh Kee Suat was appointed as Sabah chairman.
Soh, a former aide to several local assemblymen, also served as private secretary to Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat during his tenure as chief minister in the early 2000s.
Voon said that while many had offered to contest under PBK’s banner, the party would vet all applicants carefully.
He reiterated that the party’s core struggle – advocating for the independence of Sabah and Sarawak – would remain central to its political agenda.
Asked why he believed PBK could win support in Sabah when it had yet to do so in Sarawak, Voon said many Sabahans were now facing similar frustrations and concerns, adding that PBK’s Sabah leadership comprises locals who uphold the “Sabah for Sabahans” belief.
