By: Datuk Teddy Chin
HERE is my constituency-by-constituency analysis of the Sabah election.
There were 25 Nomination Centers, one for each of the Parliamentary constituency.
I will go by the MP seats starting from the North in Kudat.
Some have 2 State seats under them, some 3, some even 4.
Due to space constraint, I can’t mention all the candidates as there are nearly 600 of them.
P stands for Parliament while N stands for State seats. Here goes:
P.167 Kudat – N.01 Banggi
This is a 12-cornered fight, rather large for an island which in the past was the stronghold of the Tun Mustapha family. The incumbent is Datuk Mohammad Mohamarin of GRS. He won the seat on a Warisan ticket in 2020, polling 1,773 votes. He beat his rival, Akram Ismail of BN by 703 votes.
This time around, among Mohammad’s challengers is lawyer Rahimah Majid of PN. Rahimah has been with PN (Bersatu) for years and when Muhyiddin was PM, she was the Chairman of the Malaysian Cocoa Board based in KK. Another challenger is Datu Razak Datu Salam of PKAN.
He is a son of Datu Salam, brother of Tun Mustapha. Datu Salam was the Usno Assemblyman for the then Bengkoka-Banggi seat from 1976-1981 and 1985-86. Other notable candidates now include Normalah Rasik of BN and Zainal Romio of Warisan.
N. 02 Bengkoka
Bengkoka is separated from Kudat by the Marudu Bay (where Kota Marudu got its name). It faces Banggi island in the north and that’s why in the old days the constituency was called Bengkoka Banggi.
The incumbent is this 11-cornered fight is Harun Durabi of BN. He was one of the few Umno Assemblymen who were allowed to stay on as Assistant Ministers after the failed coup Among his challengers is Dr Samuil Mopun of GRS (PBS).
This is not Samil’s debut and in 2020 he got 898 votes compared to Harun’s 2,938 votes. Another challenger this time around is Maklin Mansiau of Star. In 2020 Maklin stood as an Independent and managed 1,149 votes, putting him in No. 3 place.
In No. 2 place then was Junsim Ruminzing of Upko who got 1,201 votes. This time around he is still the Upko candidate. Consistent just like Dr Samuil. Another challenger is Fauziah Stephens of Warisan. She is the adopted daughter of the late Tun Mohd Fuad or the former Dato’ Donald Stephens.
N. 03 Pitas
This is a 6-cornered fight but the candidates to watch out for are incumbent Datuk Seri Dr Ruddy Awah of GRS, Datuk Bolkiah Ismail of BN and Datuk Harun Ismail of Warisan. Ruddy won Pitas in 2020 as an Independent with 2,918 votes. He beat his closest challenger Sufian Karim of BN by 559 votes. Shariff Azman of Warisan got 1,565 votes.
Bolkiah is a former Pitas Assemblyman during BN time and was an Assistant Minister. He is a former banker and I don’t know if he is related to Harun Ismail. The Warisan candidate was the CEO of Sabah Oil and Gas (SOGIP).
He became Deputy Chairman of PGRS Pitas after retirement assisting Dr Ruddy. He quit PGRS recently and joined Warisan who quickly named him their candidate.
Dr Ruddy is a successful businessman and Bumiputra contractor who has been helping the Pitas people even before he joined politics. The fact that he won as an Independent in 2020 showed his popularity. He was a Pitas District Councilor before becoming YB.
Having only a little bit of Chinese blood and hardly speak Chinese, he won a Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) for staging a week-long Chinese New Year carnival in his large house compound which even had booths by relevant government agencies to help the villagers.
And of course there was plenty to eat and drink. Ruddy by the way was an Assistant Minister of Rural Development under Jahid Jahim.
N.04 Tanjong Kapor
Tanjong Kapor is essentially Kudat town and surrounding areas..It is the northern-most district of Sabah and is known for its Tip of Borneo at Simpang Mengayau which draws both local and foreign tourists. This is an 11-cornered fight.
The incumbent is Datuk Ben Chong of GRS who won it on a Warisan ticket in 2020. He is defending his seat against among others Warisan candidate Terence Au Soon Fui.
Tanjong Kapor has traditionally been represented by LDP since Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat’s time in 1999. Chong won it again in 2004 but did not defend it in 2008. For the next 10 years, it was Datuk Teo Chee Kang who took over LDP from Chong.
In 2018, Teo was defeated by Warisan’s Ben who later jumped to GRS.
LDP is sitting out this election. Its Kudat chief, Datuk Chin joined Warisan recently. MCA saw the ‘chance’ and its Kudat head Kevin Lee is representing BN. Kevin has been loyal to MCA since Day 1 when the party entered Sabah in 1994.
His candidacy, I believe, is a reward for his loyalty when so many past Sabah MCA leaders left after 2018. How many votes he can get is another matter.
The Chinese are not the majority in Kudat. It is an open secret that LDP under BN won with the help of Malay and Rungus votes. Same with Ben formerly of Warisan.
Apart from Ben, Au and Lee, another Chinese candidate is Shawn Davey Lee of Star who always offered himself to represent the party past few years. He once even quit the party but came back to lead.
But that is not the end of the story. Just as everybody thought the fight is between GRS and Warisan, there emerged a “dark horse” in the person of Verdon Bahanda.
He may be an Independent but he heads more than a dozen other Independents across the State known as Gelombang Hitam (Black Wave).
He shot to fame in 2022 when he, standing as an Independent, became the new Kudat MP. Among his opponents was an Assistant Minister. Until today his status as an MP is Independent but he supports Anwar as PM in Parliament.
He was Upko treasurer-general briefly when Warisan was in power. He is a successful businessman of Rungus descent. From Kudat right down to Matunggong and to a lesser extent Kota Marudu it’s Rungus country.
Will Verdon repeat his 2022 success? The power is in the voters’ hands. If he wins again, then the Bahandas have really established themselves as a household name and a force to be reckoned with in northern Sabah and Rungus country.
P.168 Kota Marudu
– N.05 Matunggong
The story of the Bahandas continue in neighbouring Matunggong which lies in between Bandau and Kudat. This is basically a Rungus country so if you are not a Rungus, don’t try your luck.
The incumbent is Datuk Julita Majungki of GRS and who is PBS secretary-general. She first won Matunggong in 2018 and again in 2020. Since 2020, she has been an Assistant Minister.
Julita is said to be a protégé of Dr Max. Before Matunggong, she was an aide to Dr Max when the latter was a Federal Minister. After Dr Joachim took over from Dr Max, she was promoted as PBS sec-gen from Information Chief, the first woman to hold the post in the party’s decades-long history.
By right, on paper at least, Julita should have no problem defending her seat. She had good majority in 2018 and 2020. In 2020, she got more than 4,000 votes and defeated her nearest rival from PBRS by more than 1,000 votes. Among those she also defeated was the PKR candidate who recently joined Warisan.
This time around, it’s a 6-cornered fight. Among her challenger is another female candidate, Jornah Mozihim of Warisan. She was the Matunggong Assemblywoman from 2004-2008 and was an Assistant Minister. She later associated herself with PCS but never won again.
This time around, even if Jornah loses again I expect her to keep her deposit because of her party.
Julita’s greater challenge is expected to come from Datuk Wetrom Bahanda, the Deputy President and defacto leader of Parti KDM. Wetrom won the neighbouring Bandau on a Bersatu ticket in 2020. This time around he moved to Matunggong allegedly to make way for his sister Datuk Redonah who however is with GRS.
The other reason is Wetrom actually comes from Matunggong rather than Bandau.
N.06 Bandau
This is a 13-cornered fight, one of the most crowded. The incumbent Datuk Wetrom Bahanda has moved to the neighbouring Matunggong, his actual hometown. In 2020, Wetrom won on a PN-Bersatu ticket in a 6-cornered fight.. He was made an Assistant Minister. He obtained 5,863 votes and his nearest rival from Warisan only got 2,500 votes. Mind you, Warisan was the ruling party then. In 2022, he resigned as an Assistant Minister to go against PBS president DSP Dr Maximus Ongkili as an Independent in the Kota Marudu MP election ng f5 wa. He won, becoming a”‘Giant Killer”.
The understanding was Wetrom’s moving out of Bandau was partly to make way for his sister Redonah who however is with GRS. Blood is thicker than water. However, this does not mean that there is no more PKDM candidate in Bandau. There is and he is Jaiping Minsu who however is not expected to pose a threat to Redonah, with due respect.
By right, Redonah should have no problem in winning Bandau due to her family’s support. I mean her two brothers are both MPs. Plus GRS is strong in Bandau, on paper at least.
What was not expected was, however, the Bandau PGRS chief Datuk Maijol Mahap withdrew his support for Redonah and instead stood as an Independent candidate himself. Maijol, a lawyer, has been with PGRS in Bandau from Day 1, in fact even from when PGRS was still PN/Bersatu.
He has been literally growing with PGRS in Bandau over the last few years. In other words, he laid the groundwork. He was close to CM and GRS Chairman Hajiji and was expected to be a potential PGRS candidate.
But there can be a candidate from PGRS or GRS. Hajiji had to choose between him and Redonah. It has not been easy for Hajiji and I don’t want to be in his shoes.
While Maijol is the local party head, Redonah is the PGRS Women Chief and a Political Secretary to the Chief Minister. Plus she is a Bahanda so that even the brother and incumbent made way for her. And we are talking about women representation.
In politics, you can’t please everybody especially when you can only choose one. Those not chosen are of course unhappy. But there is such a thing called ‘I am a party man’ and once the chief has madre a decision, the rest are expected to follow.
There can be only one ship captain. I am not just talking about Bandau but also a few other constituencies where those not chosen feel left out and stand as Independents.
By all means stand as Independents. This is a free world and there is such a thing called Freedom of Association. The British are fond of saying “If you disagree, you disassociate”. No problem. The only thing don’t regret later and come begging back as someone has done.
By right, the real fight in Bandau will be between Redonah and Maijol. But then last minute GRS partner PH through PKR fielded their man. This has happened before in politics. If one does not expect it to happen, then one must be naïve and shouldn’t be in politics. Even in the 2020 State election, Dr Jeffrey claimed that Star was played out by PBS by the number of seats agreed on earlier.
The candidate that PKR put in Bandau is an up-and-coming young leader by the name of Zaidi Jatil. His popularity in PKR can be seen by the fact that in the party election earlier this year, he won handsomely as divisional head, pushing the incumbent, a lawyer, to only a 3rd place, not even 2nd place. The loser has since joined another party.
No love lost, I suppose. I am given to understand that originally PKR already accepted that Bandau belongs to GRS. But when Upko pulled out of PH, PKR saw a possibility.
Politics is about possibilities and taking chances even if it means offending your ‘partners’.
When asked by reporters in Kota Kinabalu recently, PM and PKR chief Anwar laughed it off, calling it a “friendly contest”. He was referring to not just Bandau but also Kemabong when DAP (a PH component) ‘gate-crashed’ GRS who was already given the seat. I will touch more on this when I come to Kemabong.
The views expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the talantang.com
