Staff the Tuaran District Office, Suhaila Abidin puts up a notice on a door that will serve as the postal voting room for the N.12 Sulaman, N.14 Tamparuli and N.15 Kiulu constituencies in Sabah. The room, located inside the Tuaran District Office, will be used as the official centre for the distribution and collection of postal ballots under the Election Commission’s supervision ahead of the 17th Sabah state election. Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, who is expected to defend his N.12 Sulaman seat, is anticipated to face a six-cornered contest in the upcoming polls. — ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE/The Star
KOTA KINABALU: The 17th Sabah state election appears to be a crowded one with the first batch of 2,000 nomination forms snapped up.
Priced at RM20 per set, the forms have been selling like hotcakes since they were made available last week.
From seasoned politicians to independent hopefuls, the rush for forms reflects a fierce battlefield shaping across all 73 state seats.
It is understood that some parties and individuals have picked up extra copies as spares, either to correct errors or in case of last-minute changes of candidates.
Mukir Hussin, 73, who planned to contest the Petagas seat as an independent, arrived at the state Election Commission (EC) office yesterday only to find the nomination forms sold out.
“When I arrived, they said the stock is finished but will arrive shortly, so I am waiting here for it,” he said.
An EC staff member said new forms were being replenished from the Putrajaya headquarters to meet the high demand.
Also at the EC office was Nordin Damit from the newly-formed Parti Perjuangan Rakyat Sabah. He was there to obtain the voters’ list for the Sukau constituency in Kinabatangan.
Nominations for the Sabah election will be held on Saturday, with polling set for Nov 29.
Three major coalitions – Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan – along with Warisan, Sabah STAR, Parti KDM, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) and several smaller parties have announced their intention to contest.
Independent candidates, including nearly 17 hopefuls styling themselves as the Black Wave movement, are also expected to join the fray.
Based on announcements so far, Barisan will contest 41 seats (Umno 38, Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah two, MCA one), Pakatan 18 seats (PKR 10, DAP seven, Amanah one, with Upko yet to disclose its allocation), while KDM has announced candidates for about 25 seats.
Warisan, led by Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, is expected to announce candidates for all 73 seats tomorrow, the same day GRS, under caretaker Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, is expected to name candidates for up to 55 seats.
Unity government partners GRS and Pakatan are in an electoral pact, while Pakatan also has a separate arrangement with Barisan which will contest against GRS.
SAPP, led by Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee, will contest six seats, while its ally Sabah STAR, led by Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, is eyeing more than 30 seats.
Many observers expect crowded contests in each constituency, with a minimum five-cornered fight among major parties, and in some seats, more than a dozen contestants.
