KOTA KINABALU: A battle is shaping up for the urban state seat of Karambunai with Sabah PAS chief Datuk Dr Aliakbar Gulasan (pic) said to be seeking a breakthrough in the state for the party.
Aliakbar, who became the first PAS member to enter the Sabah assembly by nomination, is said to have started ground works on the area, held by former state minister Datuk Yakub Khan.
However, his bid for the Karambunai seat under a Perikatan Nasional ticket is still subjected to consensus from its partner Bersatu. Talk is rife that it has identified a potential female candidate for the seat.
Sabah Barisan Nasional is widely expected to retain Yakub as its candidate for Karambunai while local opposition Parti Warisan will make a fresh bid for the seat it lost by a whisker in the 2020 state election.
Yakub won the seat with a mere 16-vote majority, scoring 5,180 votes in the six-cornered contest.
Warisan has yet to name its candidate though Sepanggar division deputy chief Ahmad Jais Otang, who contested in Karambunai five years ago, and former Sepanggar MP and former deputy minister Datuk Azis Jamman were among three names said to have been submitted to party president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal to decide.
Also expected to join the race is Gabungan Rakyat Sabah’s (GRS) Datuk Arshad Idris, Gagasan Rakyat’s Karambunai division chief and also brother to former Sepanggar MP Datuk Jumat Idris.
Political observers expect the battle for the seat with 39,247 voters, including 3,153 navy voters from the Sepanggar naval base, to be between Barisan, Warisan and GRS with Perikatan becoming the dark horse, and the votes to be split.
Assoc Prof Dr Lee Kuok Tiung of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) said Aliakbar has been on the ground in Karambunai since the last election.
“It is Aliakbar’s personality that carries him, not the party. If PAS has any chance to break through for an elected seat in the Sabah assembly, it could be him,” he said, acknowledging that it would not be an easy task.
Lee observed that over the past five years, Aliakbar has been connecting with the people and staying out from personal attacks against opponents.
Being part of the state government has given him the platform to serve people in the area, Lee said.
“At this moment, it is difficult to see who will gain from the split votes,” he added.
In 2020, Warisan’s Azhar Matussin was the incumbent for the Karambunai seat, but moved to Darau – one of the 13 newly-created state seats.
In that election, Barisan, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) and Perikatan teamed up to topple the Warisan-Pakatan Harapan-led state government under Shafie.
PAS did not contest the election.
