KOTA KINABALU: It will be a nail-biting 48 hours for Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee (pic) on whether he gets to defend his Beluran parliamentary seat.
This is because neither Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) nor Sabah Barisan Nasional has decided on which coalition will contest the hot seat, with a decision expected close to nomination day on Saturday.
Kiandee, a Bersatu vice-president, is the top choice for GRS while Sabah Barisan could field Sandakan Municipal Council president Benedict Asmat for the seat.
Sabah Barisan chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin announced the candidates for his coalition at a joint GRS-Barisan event here yesterday.
“There is one seat that has not been decided,” said Bung Moktar as he read 11 names of the Sabah Barisan candidates.
As part of the GRS-Barisan deal, Barisan will contest 12 of the 25 parliamentary seats in Sabah in the general election, with the rest going to GRS.
When met later, Bung Moktar remained tight-lipped on who will get the Beluran seat.
“We are still deciding. It will be decided by nomination day,” said the Sabah Deputy Chief Minister.
Kiandee won Beluran under the Barisan ticket by a whopping 7,115 vote-majority in GE14.
He was later part of the exodus of the group which left Umno in 2019 to join Bersatu the following year.
