KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s highly fluid political landscape means that no one, including political veterans, is immune to the risk of rejection by voters.
This was evident yesterday when several seasoned politicians were defeated in the constituencies they contested in the 17th Sabah General Election.
Among those who faced a setback was United Sabah National Organisation (Usno) president Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, who contested under the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) banner in Pintasan in an 11-cornered fight.
Despite being a native of Kota Belud and a long-time political figure, these factors did not provide an advantage to the former Dewan Rakyat Speaker, who was attempting for the second time to win the same seat after his initial bid in the 16th General Election.
Pandikar, 70, failed to wrest the Pintasan seat from his opponent, Datuk Fairuz Rendan, who contested as an Independent this time and won with a majority of 1,070 votes.
The Pintasan seat was first contested in the previous state election and won by Fairuz, who had then run under a Perikatan Nasional (PN) ticket.
In Usukan, also in Kota Belud, former Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak of Barisan Nasional (BN) failed to retain the seat, losing to Warisan’s Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis@Fakharudy, who secured a slim majority of 442 votes.
In his bid to defend Usukan, Salleh, 68, who is also a former Communications and Multimedia Minister, faced a six-cornered contest.
Meanwhile, Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) president Tan Sri Anifah Aman was defeated once again in his second attempt to capture the Bongawan seat under the Kimanis parliamentary constituency.
Anifah, 73, a former foreign minister, lost to the same opponent he faced in the 16th General Election, Dr Daud Yusof of Warisan, in a nine-cornered contest this time.
A total of 73 seats were contested in the polls.
GRS won 29 of the 73 seats, Warisan 25, BN six, Independents five, United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) three, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) two, while PN, Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) won one seat each.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
