KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 (Bernama) -- Only five of the 74 independent candidates succeeded in the 17th Sabah State Election (PRN), including three incumbents who retained their respective State Legislative Assembly (DUN) seats.
The competition in several seats was very tight, with contests involving up to 14 candidates, indicating that this state election was filled with attempts by various parties but was still dominated by candidates from parties and incumbents who possess strong grassroots support.
The three incumbents who retained their respective seats are Datuk Fairuz Renddan (Pintasan), Datuk Awang Ahmad Sah Sahari (Petagas), and Rina Jainal (Kukusan).
In Pintasan, Fairuz, a former Youth leader of Parti Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), retained his seat after defeating several high-profile candidates, including former Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia from Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), with a majority of 1,070 votes.
The DUN with 15,896 voters witnessed an 11-cornered contest.
In Petagas, Awang Ahmad Sah, who was the incumbent and contesting under Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) ticket, retained his seat in a 10-cornered contest, which included defeating his own younger brother, Datuk Awang Husaini Sahari from Pakatan Harapan (PH), with a majority of 1,255 votes out of 20,116 registered voters.
Meanwhile, Rina, a former Deputy President of Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah (Harapan Rakyat), maintained her position in Kukusan after succeeding in a 10-cornered contest, winning with a majority of 650 votes.
Besides the incumbents, several new candidates also drew attention. In Bandau, independent candidate Datuk Dr Maijol Mahap managed to defeat 12 other candidates in a 13-cornered contest, although with a slim majority of 244 votes.
In Tulid, the youngest winning independent candidate in this PRN, Jordan Jude Ellron, created a surprise victory in a 14-cornered contest.
Overall, more than 1.74 million ordinary voters were eligible to exercise their rights in this PRN to determine 73 seats.
For the latest news on the 17th Sabah State Election, please visit https://prn.bernama.com/sabah/index.php.
-- BERNAMA
BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies.
Follow us on social media :
Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial
