Sabah polls: Clash of siblings for Kukusan state seat

ONE of the 'must see' contests in the Sabah General Election is the clash between two siblings for the Kukusan state seat.

Ma'mun Sulaiman, 60, from Warisan will take on his sister Chaya, 63 who is contesting under Barisan Nasional.

Ma'mun is the former Kalabakan Member of Parliament while Chaya is also the Kalabakan Division Wanita UMNO Chief.

In the 14th General Election (GE14) 2018, Ma'mun won the Kalabakan Parliamentary seat, but failed to retain the victory in the GE15 (2022).

He is now returning to the state political arena with the hope of restoring Warisan's influence in the area.

Meanwhile, Chaya is not a new name in the Kukusan state constituency because in the last PRN, she contested in the same seat, but lost by a majority of 10 votes to the then Warisan candidate, Datuk Rina Jainal.

Chaya told Berita Harian that family ties were not an obstacle in their political struggle, instead seeing the PRN as a healthy democratic arena for the people to evaluate the best candidates.

"We are contesting professionally. The state election is a platform for the people to determine who is worthy of representing them and which party is closer to the people's hearts," she said.

The clash between these two siblings is expected to add colour to the Sabah state election scene this time, especially in the Kukusan state seat which often sees fierce competition between candidates contesting to gain support, especially among young and female voters.

For the record, the Kukusan state seat is a newly created constituency in the 2020 Sabah state election. - November 13, 2025