Anthony (seated middle) together with his deputy president Datuk Wetrom Bahanda (seated right), KDM secretary-general Willie Jude Junaidi (seated left) and other party leaders during the press conference.
KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Peter Anthony’s native-based Parti KDM will go it alone in the upcoming Sabah state election, eyeing more than 30 of the 73 seats at stake.
Although they consider themselves a fledgling party, the KDM president said they were nonetheless confident of doing well, adding they were looking at contesting all the ethnic Kadazandusun Murut and Rungus seats while also eyeing some mixed majority seats.
“We have agreed at our party leadership level that we will go solo,” he told reporters at the KDM office near here on Wednesday (Oct 9).
“I think we will go for more than 30 seats, 35 seats maybe.
“We will contest all the Kadazandusun Murut and Rungus areas,” said the Melalap assemblyman.
Asked if KDM was open to working with any party going into the state polls, Anthony said: “After the election (we can talk).”
Anthony, who won his Melalap seat on a Parti Warisan ticket in the 2020 snap state elections, ditched Warisan to form KDM in December 2021.
His party showed significant gains in the interior and northern seats in the 15th General Election (GE15) in 2022, where deputy president Datuk Wetrom Bahanda won the Kota Marudu MP seat.
KDM has remained in Opposition to the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS)-led state government but is part of the federal unity government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
KDM’s decision is similar to fellow state Opposition party Warisan led by former chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, which will also contest the next state election on its own.
When asked why he intended for KDM to fly solo when other established parties were looking for political partners, Anthony said: “That is not a problem - let us, a small party, stand alone.
“But you can see from the previous (GE15) result, despite being a young party, we defeated Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) in Kota Marudu,” he said, referring to Wetrom’s victory over then-incumbent Kota Marudu MP and PBS president Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili.
“This is a reflection that Sabahans want change and are willing to give a chance to parties like KDM.
“So, hopefully, our small party will become a party that is respected after the 17th Sabah election,” the former Sabah infrastructure development minister said.
On the candidates, Anthony said the party has more or less identified the individuals to contest the seats they were eyeing, claiming “too many wanted to become candidates.”
Asked about his close relationship with Sabah Barisan Nasional chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, the KDM president said they were part of the national unity government.
On whether there is a contingency plan if he failed to overturn his conviction and sentence for falsifying documents failed, he replied: “Hopefully everything will be okay but we are ready for that ... whatever it is, there is always a plan B for that.”
The final appeal decision to overturn his conviction and sentence for falsifying documents related to a maintenance and service contract at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) will be decided by the Court of Appeal on Nov 27.
