KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor suggests that suspended Umno assemblyman Datuk Shahelmey Yahya could contest under a GRS ticket.
“He will be with ‘siurang’ (us),” he said without elaborating.
He said this when asked at an event in Putatan, on Sunday (Aug 17), about Shahelmey’s status and whether he would run again.
Shahelmey, who is the Deputy Chief Minister III and Tanjung Keramat assemblyman, will have to vacate his Putatan parliamentary seat under the anti-hopping law if GRS selects him to defend it.
Shahelmey won both state and parliamentary seats on a Barisan ticket, but in January 2023 went against his party’s decision to withdraw support for Hajiji’s GRS government.
He and other rebels were subsequently suspended for six years.
Earlier, Hajiji, who is GRS chairman, said Shahelmey would surely win again if he contests, as he was a well-known assemblyman who does his job.
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Sabah Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin had reiterated many times that they would not refield Shahelmey and the other rebels.
Shahelmey said he has not been called or briefed about state seats for the upcoming state election.
He stated that the announcements regarding the number of seats to be contested by Umno and Barisan Nasional were made by the party leadership.
However, he said he is closely following the state’s political developments.
