Bahanda brothers win Kota Marudu, Kudat seats
KOTA KINABALU: The Bahanda brothers won the Kota Marudu and Kudat parliamentary seats in the 15th General Election (GE15).
Datuk Wetrom Bahanda secured 24,318 votes to win the Kota Marudu seat with a majority of 8,174 votes in a six-cornered fight against incumbent Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Mohd Azmi Zulkiflee (Pejuang), Shahrizal Denci (PH-Muda), Norman Tulang (Independent), Datuk Jilid Kuminding (Warisan) in Kota Marudu.
The former assistant minister to the Chief Minister made his debut in the GE15 a er his intention was rejected by GRS. He contested under Parti Demokratik Kesejahteraan Masyarakat (Parti KDM) ticket 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.
Meanwhile, his brother Datuk Verdon Bahanda 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, received 16,323 votes to win the seat with a majority of 1,967 votes.
His opponents Ruddy received 14,356 votes, while Petronella, Rashid and Thonny received 282 votes, 9,421 votes and 4,726 respectively.
During the campaigning period, Verdon received a lot of support from Umno and Barisan Nasional hardcore supporters despite the initial pledge of GRS-BN collaboration in Sabah.