PKR election co-director Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said his party has yet to finalise the list of candidates for the upcoming Sabah election.
The seat negotiation process is currently in its final phase, and the process to match candidates and seats is still being discussed, he said.
“Until the letter of intent is submitted, no one knows who the candidate is. Seat negotiations are entering their final phase, so the matching between seats and candidates has not yet been finalised.
“The party usually collects a number of names of potential candidates obtained from various levels of the party, including the central, state, and branches.
“These names may be selected in the end, (or) they may not. This has been PKR’s way for a long time,” he told Malaysiakini.
He said this in response to allegations that PKR will be fielding “parachute candidates” in the state election.
The term refers to outsiders brought in by the central leadership, often with little or no local support, and “dropped” in constituencies to contest at the expense of grassroots leaders.
Malaysiakini previously reported that Sabah PKR may be facing internal friction as more than half of the state divisional chiefs accused party bigwigs from Kuala Lumpur of hijacking their election campaign and imposing handpicked candidates ahead of the state polls.
According to three sources, 17 divisional chiefs and deputies organised a secret meeting in Kota Kinabalu on Thursday night, furious over what they described as a “central takeover” of election machinery and candidate lists.
Among the “parachute candidates” mentioned was Jamawi Jaafar, a former Tenom assemblyperson who joined Warisan after leaving Umno, before landing in PKR.
Other candidates mentioned were former Education Ministry secretary-general Ruji Ubi, and Yamani Hafez Musa, son of Sabah Governor Musa Aman and a former Sipitang MP.
The names came to light after a candidate list, believed to be leaked by a party insider, went viral on social media, in what many saw as an attempt to discredit the central leadership’s picks.
In light of this, Sabah PKR chief Mustapha Sakmud was accused of inaction while the central leadership purportedly overrode divisional chiefs.
Some believed PKR president Anwar Ibrahim may not even be privy to the reality on the ground, alleging that reports sent to him were being “filtered” by the central election committee led by Saifuddin and co-director, Nurul Izzah Anwar.
The sources also alleged Sabah PKR’s own election team, led by Peto Galim, has been sidelined by the central election team.
President’s pick and potential CM
Meanwhile, a party insider said that Ruji is likely to contest the Merotai seat in Tawau.
This comes after Anwar himself announced that Ruji had joined the party during a recent event in Merotai.
“Ruji is from Tawau. And he is well-known among Sabahans,” said the source.
”Apart from Ruji being expected to contest in the Merotai state seat, he is also said to be the chief ministerial candidate for PKR.
“He is not Saifuddin or Nurul’s choice, but the president himself,” the source added.
Ruji was also formerly the Home Ministry secretary-general as well as the CEO of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom).
While serving at the Home Ministry, Ruji helped build the Immigration, Customs, Quarantine, and Security (ICQS) complexes in Bantul, Nabawan and Serudong, Kalabakan.
He also helped to obtain funding for new police district headquarters in both areas.
Besides that, he assisted in opening a National Registration Department office in Kalabakan.
The incumbent of the Merotai state seat is Warisan’s Sarifuddin Hata, who won in 2020 with a 1,587-vote majority. - Mkini
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