Nothing wrong in Kiandee seeking re-election in Beluran, says Muhyiddin

 

PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin says that Ronald Kiandee is a Bersatu veep and that the Beluran seat belongs to the party.

PENDANG: Muhyiddin Yassin has defended former Beluran MP Ronald Kiandee’s bid for re-election under the Perikatan Nasional ticket, saying Kiandee is Bersatu’s vice-president and that the seat belongs to the party.

Two days ago, FMT reported that Kiandee’s candidacy under the PN ticket for the Beluran seat had complicated the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) electoral pact with Sabah Barisan Nasional according to a source in the know.

Under the electoral pact, GRS agreed that BN should contest Beluran as it had won the seat in 2018. The seat changed hands after Kiandee defected to Bersatu in late 2018.

Kiandee’s participation in the contest drew criticism from BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who said PN was disrupting the electoral pact by allowing him to contest the seat.

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However, Muhyiddin said GRS should not have sacrificed Besatu seats when it negotiated with BN.

Saying he had endorsed GRS when it was formed, Muhyiddin asked: “Why did you (GRS) not consider Kiandee? Am I fair? That is my answer.”

“That is my candidate, and he did not get the watikah (candidacy letter) from GRS. If you are in my position, what will you do?

“So I told Kiandee that our (PN) decision is that you can contest, and you can use our PN ticket,” the Bersatu president told reporters after speaking at a ceramah here.

Muhyiddin said he would have fielded candidates in five or six more seats if he had wanted to as PN had won the state in the 2020 state elections, but did not do so. - FMT