Bersatu, Umno territorial battle set for Sabah’s Libaran, Beluran seats

SANDAKAN – Despite Bersatu and Umno in Sabah wanting to appear friendly, tensions between both parties remain strong as their respective machineries continue to clash in Libaran and Beluran.  

Both parties are now claiming the right to contest in the two federal seats for the coming 15th general election as Bersatu-led Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Umno-led Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) have yet to make their electoral pact official.  

Libaran 

Bersatu’s incumbent Libaran MP Datuk Zakaria Mohd Edris was speaking on stage at Dewan Sri Libaran during the opening ceremony of a Libaran Bersatu delegate meeting on Saturday, when halfway through his speech, Umno’s Sg Manila (state seat in Libaran) assemblyman Mokran Ingkat and his entourage arrived at the event.  

This created an awkward vibe in the hall filled with over 1,000 Libaran Bersatu members, as it was clear that Zakaria was fighting to contest the seat.   

In his speech, Zakaria expressed hope that he would be chosen to defend the seat as he highlighted his achievements in the constituency, and reiterated that he had support from other parties in GRS – Sabah Star, Parti Bersatu Sabah, and the Usno.  

But the next day (yesterday) at the very same hall, Umno also conducted its annual delegate meeting for Libaran, chaired by division chief Datuk Suhaimi Nasir, who is also a Sabah nominated assemblyman.  

In the 2020 state election, Suhaimi contested the Gum Gum state seat, which is under Libaran, but lost to Warisan.  

He confidently said though it had yet to be announced, Umno will be contesting Libaran.  

Additionally, he also hinted to the members to “accept former Umno members who have strayed to another party with open arms” without naming the party.  

“Plead (to) them to come back if you must. Welcome them back,” he added, addressing almost the same crowd of 1,000 who showed up earlier.  

Later at a press conference, Suhaimi admitted that there had been a misunderstanding between GRS and Umno on the Libaran seat, but the matter had been resolved between Sabah Umno chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and GRS chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.  

Sources from both Sabah Umno and Sabah Bersatu told The Vibes that there had been an agreement during the 2020 Sabah election, where all three state seats in Libaran – Sg Sibuga, Sg Manila, and Gum Gum were contested by BN, with the condition that BN would leave the Libaran federal seat to Bersatu.  

If this is true, it means that BN would be dishonouring the agreement if it contests in Libaran.  

Beluran  

Yesterday, Beluran Umno chief Julie Sabran during the division’s delegate meeting declared that the party would be defending the seat, stressing that it was one of Umno’s traditional seats.  

“Umno must contest in Beluran!” she chanted over ten times throughout her speech before some 300 Beluran Umno members, and her speech ended with the attendees chanting the same words.  

Beluran Umno appears to be attempting to wrest away the seat from incumbent Bersatu MP Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee, who held a cabinet position as agriculture and food industries minister.  

Kiandee held the Beluran Bersatu delegate meeting on the very same day in Beluran Hall, where he said that GRS was the best platform to fight for Sabah’s rights.  

Both Beluran and Libaran were won by the incumbents on Umno tickets but the two leaders, Kiandee and Zakaria, abandoned the party before joining Bersatu in April 2019.  

The Vibes has learnt that the Beluran Umno event had to be held in Sandakan because Ronald had booked the only hall in Beluran earlier.  

Hajiji and Bung have both come out publicly to say that their two alliances will form an electoral pact.  

However the two have not finalised seat distributions.  

But according to Bung, both alliances and electoral cooperation will likely be formalised by the two leaders within this week.  

This includes announcing their candidates and seat distribution. 

Five federal seats in Sabah were won by Umno in 2018 but its MPs later joined Bersatu – Beluran, Libaran, Beaufort (Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun), Kudat (Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri), and Datuk Yamani Hafez Musa (Sipitang). – The Vibes, October 17, 2022