Record 596 candidates in Sabah polls, all seats see multi-cornered fights with one 14-way race

KOTA KINABALU: The stage is set for the 17th Sabah State Election, with a record-breaking 596 candidates vying for 73 seats as nominations closed on Saturday (Nov 15).

It is shaping up to be a tight race, with multi-cornered contests across the state: four-horse races being the minimum, and one constituency even seeing a 14-way battle.

Confirmed candidates include 74 independents, 73 from Parti Warisan, 72 from Parti Impian Sabah, 55 from Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), 46 from Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR), 45 from Barisan Nasional (BN), 42 from Perikatan Nasional (PN), and 40 from Parti KDM.

Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan alliance has fielded 22 candidates.

The Election Commission said 525 of the candidates are men and 71 are women. The youngest is 24, while the oldest is 86. 

The nomination process, covering 73 state constituencies, was conducted at 25 centres across Sabah.

Confirmed candidates can begin campaigning for 14 days, until 11.59pm on Nov 28.

More than 1.7 million Sabahans are set to head to the ballot boxes on Nov 29 to cast their votes in the state polls, with early voting scheduled for Nov 25.

Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor had announced the official dissolution of the state legislative assembly on Oct 6. 

Of the 79 seats in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly, 73 must be contested, with another six to be appointed by the governor.

40 PER CENT REVENUE CLAIM A KEY ELECTION ISSUE

A key issue expected to feature during the campaign period is last month’s Kota Kinabalu High Court ruling that the Malaysian federal government had acted unlawfully by failing to fulfil Sabah's 40 per cent entitlement for nearly 50 years.

Malaysia’s Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has said that it will not appeal the ruling and will begin negotiations with the Sabah state government immediately. Analysts told CNA that this was a "carefully calculated" move aimed at cooling the political climate ahead of the state polls.

The federal government’s move will help show that the peninsular-based parties competing in the state election are serious about their commitments to Sabah and boost their chances at the ballot box, the experts added.

Analysts also believe Anwar is hoping for the Sabah election to produce a Putrajaya-friendly state government that can strike a reasonable agreement on the state’s 40 per cent special grant entitlement.

Sabah has for years been trying to negotiate a return of its entitlement to 40 per cent of its contribution to federal revenue as stated in the Federal Constitution, an issue that is threatening to come to a head at this election.

Sabah’s election is the first in a series of noteworthy state polls - next up are Melaka, Johor and Sarawak - between now and 2028, by when Malaysia’s 16th General Election must be held.

The Sabah polls will be a test of how well the unity government partners can work together even as their collaboration is not a given at the next General Election, political leaders and analysts previously told CNA.