BARISAN Nasional (BN) will soon unveil another six or seven state seats it intends to contest in the upcoming 17th Sabah State Election (PRN17), with the announcement expected before nomination day this Saturday.
BN Sabah Chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin said the coalition would reveal the remaining constituencies in due course but declined to disclose details, hinting only that the seats are located along both the east and west coasts of the state.
“This is our strategy. Therefore, we cannot reveal it now. Wait until I make the announcement later because these are ‘special’ seats,” he told reporters after announcing BN’s list of candidates for PRN17 Sabah on Thursday night.
Earlier, BN named 41 candidates, of whom 80 per cent are newcomers, to contest in the election scheduled for 29 November. Bung Moktar added that the yet-to-be-announced seats would also feature fresh faces, bringing BN’s total contest to an estimated 47 or 48 constituencies.
The Sabah UMNO Chief confirmed that BN would not face any clashes with Pakatan Harapan (PH) in its seat allocations.
Commenting on the nomination of UMNO Sabah Deputy Chief Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan for the Tempasuk state seat, Bung Moktar said the decision took into account Abdul Rahman’s past experience as the former Member of Parliament for Kota Belud.
“Abdul Rahman, who is also the UMNO Division Chief for Tuaran, chose to contest in Tempasuk instead of Pantai Dalit or Sulaman in Tuaran. We believe he has the potential to play a strong role there. He previously represented the area as an MP, while Alfian Sambas will contest for BN in Pantai Dalit,” he said.
It will mark Abdul Rahman’s first attempt at a state seat, having previously only contested parliamentary constituencies.
The former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department served two terms as the MP for Kota Belud from 2008 before moving to Sepanggar in the 2018 General Election, where he was defeated. He later returned to contest Kota Belud in the 2022 General Election but lost to Warisan candidate Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis.
In Tempasuk, Abdul Rahman is expected to face incumbent Datuk Mohd Arsad Bistari, who is likely to contest under the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) banner. Mohd Arsad originally won the seat for BN in the 2020 state election but left the party to join Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) following the state’s political turmoil in January 2023. - November 10, 2025
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