KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is set for one of the biggest electoral battles in its history with a potpourri of candidates from as young as 24 and as old as 86, from farmers to professionals as well as siblings and family members in opposing camps.
The election will also see a record number of 596 candidates participating.
Hot battles are shaping up in every constituency, with the interior Tulid seat being contested by 14 people which is the largest number of contestants vying for a single seat.
Four seats will see 13-cornered fights, two seats will involve 12-cornered fights, six seats will see 11-cornered confrontations, nine seats will see 10-cornered battles and 10 seats will involve nine-cornered fights. There are no straight fights in this election; the least is a four-cornered fight and it is happening in two seats.
There are a total of 525 men and 71 women in this election. The number of candidates above the age of 60 totalled 205.
The crowded fields are being seen mainly in the native Kadazandu-sun, Murut and Rungus seats.
Three major coalitions – Gabungan Rakyat, Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan together with major and minor political parties involving 24 parties and 74 independents are set to contest among each other.
GRS, Pakatan and Barisan are leading the battle for a fresh mandate amid some “friendly” contest among the partners in at least four seats as they face off a host of divided opposition parties.
GRS is contesting 53 seats, Pakatan in 22 seats and Barisan Nasional (which has an electoral pact only with Pakatan) have fielded candidates for 45 seats.
As nominations closed, Warisan was the largest single local opposition party contesting in all 73 seats while a little known Parti Impian Sabah emerged second, contesting in 72 seats.
Local opposition parties Sabah STAR fielded 46 candidates, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) fielded six candidates and Upko is contesting 25 seats. Parti KDM will contest 40 seats and Anak Negeri slotted 18 candidates.
National opposition Perikatan Nasional is in the race for 42 seats while a host of 13 little known parties make up the rest of the candidates in some seats.
Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, the longest serving Sabah assemblyman since 1990, is in a five-corner fight to defend Sulaman while his main political rival Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal is also locked in with a four-corner fight in his Senallang state seat in Semporna.
Sabah Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin is heading into a six-cornered contest in Lamag while Sabah STAR president Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan is caught in a seven way fight for his Tambunan seat which had been held by a member of his family for the last 50 years.
Upko’s Ewon Benedick is locked in an eight-cornered fight in his defence of the Kadamaian seat he has held since 2018.
Political observers are not surprised by the number of independents and new parties emerging due to growing resentment over issues in the state.
Sabah UiTM senior lecturer Rahezzal Shah said based on previous election results which saw independent candidates winning, this has created hope to the current aspirants on their chance of winning.
“They want to be politically involved and are not happy about how incumbents handled current issues, such as the slow pace of basic infrastructure development, and state autonomy under Malaysia Agreement 1963.
“It indicates that people have a high sense of their democratic right and want to do something about it by entering the political system themselves,” he said.
