SEMPORNA, Sept 12 — Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal is defending the Senallang seat in the Sabah state election in a five-cornered contest which also involves his nephew.
This is a crowded field compared to the 14th general election (GE14) in 2018, when Mohd Shafie prevailed in a straight fight against his cousin Datuk Seri Nasir Tun Sakaran, who was representing Barisan Nasional (BN).
This time around, Mohd Shafie, the Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) president, is challenged by his nephew Norazman Utoh Nain of Perikatan Nasional (PN), D Pg Ahmad Datu Ali Alam (Parti Perpaduan Rakyat Sabah), Mohammad Ramzan Abdul Wahab (USNO) and Madjalis Lais (Parti Cinta Sabah).
The candidates were announced by returning officer Benedict Asmat at about 11.10 am, after the nomination process had closed at Dewan Masyarakat Semporna at 10 am.
Mohd Shafie submitted his nomination papers at 9.18 am.
Meanwhile, the Bugaya seat will see a seven-cornered contest involving incumbent Manis Muka Mohd Darah (Warisan Plus), candidates from USNO, Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS), Perikatan Nasional (PN), Parti Perpaduan Rakyat Sabah (PPRS) and two independents.
USNO is represented by Ahmad Kenajaan, PPRS by Taraji Jamdi, PN by Mohd Daud Tampokong, PCS by Jihek Basanu, while the two independents are Rasidan Abd Latiff, who is using the key symbol, and Abdul Jan Muammil@ Abdul Jim, who is using the fish logo.
Sabah Deputy Chief Minister and Warisan vice-president Datuk Dr Jaujan Sambakong is defending the Sulabayan seat in a three-cornered contest with Alahuddin Mohd Sarah of USNO and Abdul Manan Indanan of BN.
Senallang has 14,336 voters; Bugaya, 20,267; and Sulabayan, 14,012.
The candidates for Bugaya were announced by returning officer Linna Hassin while the candidate list for Sulabayan was unveiled by Johan Okasa.
