Bahanda, Apdal brothers going to Parliament
KOTA KINABALU: Two pairs of brothers have won parliamentary seats in Sabah in the 15th General Election.
They are Datuk Wetrom Bahanda and Datuk Verdon Bahanda as well as Datuk Seri Panglima Mohd Shafie Apdal and Datuk Yusof Apdal.
Wetrom upset incumbent Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) to wrestle the Kota Marudu seat after securing 24,318 votes and 8,174 majority in a six-cornered fight.
The other contestants were Mohd Azmi Zulkiflee (Pejuang), Shahrizal Denci (PH-Muda), Norman Tulang (Independent), Datuk Jilid Kuminding (Warisan).
Wetrom, who is the former assistant minister to the Chief Minister, made his debut in the GE15 after his intention was rejected by GRS.
He contested under Parti Demokratik Kesejahteraan
Masyarakat (Parti KDM) which caused him to lose his post as an assistant minister to the Sabah Chief Minister.
Wetrom, who is the Bandau assemblyman won the state seat in the 2020 Sabah state election under a Perikatan Nasional (PN) ticket.
Mohd Azmi obtained 279 votes, Shahrizal 3,225, Norman 660, Jilid 5,320 and Maximus 16,144.
Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh, in a statement yesterday, said that the voting results for the P168 Kota Marudu parliamentary seat were received safely, and were announced at 6.40 am yesterday.
The election results for the parliamentary seat could not be announced earlier due to weather issues.
Meanwhile, Verdon took the Kudat seat in a five-cornered fight against Datuk Seri Ruddy Awah (GRS), Petronella Usun (Pejuang), Rashid Harun (Warisan) and Thonny Chee (PH).
The first timer who stood under an independent ticket, won 16,323 votes with 1,967 majority.
Meanwhile, Pitas assemblyman Ruddy received 14,356 votes, Petronella 282, Rashid 9,421 and Thonny 4,726.
During the campaigning period, Verdon received a lot of support from Umno and Barisan Nasional’s hardcore supporters despite the initial pledge of GRSBN collaboration in Sabah.
The other pair of siblings to emerge victorious in the GE15 in Sabah were Parti Warisan president Shafie and his younger brother Yusof. Both are senior politicians in Sabah who have very strong following in the east coast of the state.
Shafie, the incumbent for Semporna, retained the seat with a huge majority of 20,810 votes.
His closest opponent, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah’s (GRS) Nixon Abdul Habi received 7,892 votes, Arastam Pandorog from Pakatan Harapan (PH) 1,848 votes and the candidate fielded by Parti Pejuang Tanahair’s (Pejuang) only garnered 467 votes.
Meanwhile Yusof who contested in the Lahad Datu parliamentary seat was in a three-cornered fight polled 27,116 votes to win the seat with a majority of 4,376 votes.
He was challenged by Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Maizatul Akmam Alawi and Pakatan Harapan (PH), Sia Yu Hock who each received 22,740 and 8,289 votes respectively.
In the GE15 on Saturday, Warisan won three out of 52 parliamentary seats contested through Shafie (Semporna), Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Kota Belud) and Yusof Apdal (Lahad Datu).