KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking is likely to make way for vice president Terrance Siambun to contest the hot seat of Moyog in Penampang in the Nov 29 Sabah election.
Leiking, the incumbent Moyog assemblyman and former international trade and industry minister, has indicated to party members in recent months that he would not be defending the seat that he won in the 2020 state election.
According to party sources, Leiking wants to focus on recapturing the Penampang parliamentary seat which he lost to Upko president Datuk Ewon Benedick in GE15 in 2022.
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Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal has made Leiking the party’s election director and part of the candidate selection process for all 73 state seats in the coming election.
The 51-year-old Siambun, a former Moyog assemblyman from 2013-2018, has been backed by the Penampang Warisan division headed by Leiking to contest the Kadazandusun semi-urban seat.
Neither Siambun nor Leiking would comment, as Shafie will make the candidate announcements at the appropriate time before Nomination Day on Nov 15.
Moyog is seen as a hot seat amid speculation as to the potential candidates.
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Voters there are known for their unpredictable choices, even voting out sitting chief minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok in 1999.
Depending on the seat-sharing agreement reached between Pakatan Harapan and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), Upko deputy president Datuk Donald Mojuntin is the likely choice for the seat, while GRS’s Moyog Gagasan Rakyat division chief Datuk Ceasar Mandela Malakun is also a possible pick.
Sabah STAR and Parti KDM, among others, are also expected to join the fray in Moyog.
