Madius (left) and Jahid (right).
A Momogun stronghold, Tamparuli has 26,784 registered voters.
TUARAN : – Tuaran Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Madius Tangau will contest in the Sabah General Election (GE) for the Tamparuli seat to challenge incumbent Datuk Jahid Jahim.
The Honorary President of the United Kinabalu Progressive Organisation (UPKO) is the party’s main choice in the election to be held on November 29.
The agreement was made during the Tuaran UPKO 2025 Convention held recently.
At the same time, the competition in Tamparuli this time is seen as ‘lively and fun’ where many will see whether Madius will be able to wrest the seat from Jahid, who has held it for four terms.
Tamparuli is one of the two state seats in the Tuaran parliamentaey constituency that is traditionally a stronghold of the Momogun community.
The other seat is Kiulu.
There are 26,784 registered voters in Tamparuli.
Aged 67, Madius was born in Kampung Lokos Kiulu, Tuaran.
He has been the Tuaran MP since 2013 for a second term.
He has previously held the positions of Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah and Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation.
Madius has also served as a minister in the Federal Cabinet.
Apart from Madius and Jahid, this 17th State Election is also set to make history as many are reported to be candidates for their respective parties.
The 2020 GE saw a four-cornered contest.
What is certain is that Jahid, the former Minister of Rural Development of Sabah and Deputy President of the United Sabah Party (PBS), will defend his seat using the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) ticket.
He is likely to be challenged by nine other contenders including Madius.
This is the first time Tamparuli will see a nine-cornered contest.
Other parties that are also pinning their hopes are Barisan Nasional (BN), Perikatan Nasional (PN), Sabah Dream Party (PIS) and Parti Perjuangan Tanah Air (PEJUANG), Warisan, Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR), Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (PKDM) and Parti Gemilang Anak Sabah (GAS).
However, a GRS party spokesperson said that the coalition is not daunted by the large number of challengers because they are confident that voters will still choose Jahid who has made many contributions and services to voters in his area.
In the last GE, Jahid won this seat with a majority of 3,517 in a four-cornered race.
However, in the latest development, GRS is said to have not yet officially named their candidate.
PBS Tamparuli Division has confirmed that it will re-nominate Jahid as a candidate if the coalition agrees.
Jahid is the PBS Tamparuli Division Chief.
“He will remain the party’s sole candidate in Tamparuli. The decision was made at the divisional meeting and we unanimously agreed to nominate Jahid as the candidate,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the BN Party is expected to field Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) Tamparuli Division Chief Handry Luaran as the candidate while PKDM has nominated its vice-president and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) lecturer, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gaim James Lunkapis as the candidate.
The newly established local party PIS in Sabah has nominated Silim Yamin as the candidate while other parties such as PEJUANG, PN, Warisan, STAR and GAS will only announce their candidates before the nomination day scheduled for November 15.
The Tamparuli state constituency was created in 1974 as a result of the split of parts of the Sulaman and Kiulu constituencies.
Non-Muslim Bumiputeras (Momogun) are the majority population in Tamparuli, making up around 69 percent, followed by Muslim Bumiputeras (24 percent), while the remainder are Chinese and others.
