KOTA KINABALU: It is up to Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) to field one candidate for both the parliamentary and state seats in the elections, said Sabah BN chairman Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan holds the Keningau parliamentary seat and Tambunan state seats

“If PBS think they want to field one candidate to contest in two constituencies, it is not a problem for me. They did it before and there is nothing wrong with that,” said Musa.

“In Umno, there will only be one candidate for one seat,” the chief minister, who is also state Umno liaison chairman, said at the PBS Chinese New Year open house here yesterday.

PBS president Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan holds the Keningau parliamentary seat and Tambunan state seat while his deputy Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili is the assemblyman for Tandek and a member of parliament for Kota Marudu.

Another PBS deputy president, Datuk Dr Yee Moh Chai, is MP for Kota Kinabalu and assemblyman for Api-Api.
When asked yesterday, Pairin said PBS would decide on the matter soon.

On Umno, Musa said there were no decision yet on Kalabakan Umno division chief Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh’s suggestion that the Merotai state seat, held by the Chinese-dominated Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) should be returned to Umno based on the existence of 70 per cent Muslim voters in the constituency.

In another political development, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee refused to answer questions on his candidacy for the elections.

Yong who once served as chief minister under the rotation of the post which had since been scrapped said he would make his decision soon.

“I get text messages (SMS), telephone calls and emails every day asking me about this. Just wait, you will know,” he added.

Yong had to give up his Likas seat in 2001 when he was found by the election court as having committed corrupt or illegal election practice in the March 1999 state election.

Following the court’s ruling on June 9, 2001, a by-election was held for Likas.

The law also required him to vacate the Gaya parliamentary seat which he won in November 1999 as Likas is one of the seats that fell under the constituency.

He has been eligible to contest in elections since June 2006, and speculation is rife that Yong, who commands a good following not just among the Chinese community, will join the fray in the coming polls.