PETALING JAYA: Sabah deputy chief minister III Shahelmey Yahya says he will make a decision in due course, following a call by Bung Moktar Radin for him to vacate his Putatan parliamentary seat if he wants to contest in the state election.
Shahelmy, who also holds the Tanjung Keramat state seat, said he understood the Sabah Umno chairman’s rationale and accepted it “with an open mind”.
“However, I have not made any decision yet and will do so when the time comes,” he told FMT.
Bung earlier claimed that rules set out by the Election Commission made Shahelmy ineligible to defend his state seat as he was suspended by Umno for six years in March last year.
Shahelmey contested under the Barisan Nasional banner in the last Sabah polls in September 2020.
Bung said with Shahelmy being suspended by the party, he was confident Umno would be able to defend the Tanjung Keramat state seat and Putatan parliamentary seat with another candidate.
Shahelmey was suspended by Umno on March 18, 2023 for refusing to toe the party line during an attempt to oust Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor early last year.
The political manoeuvre, led by Bung, fizzled out after Hajiji proved he enjoyed the support of the majority of Sabah’s 73 assemblymen, thanks to five Umno assemblymen who were aligned to him.
They are Shahelmy, James Ratib (Sugut), Jasnih Daya (Pantai Dalit), Arsad Bistari (Tempasuk) and Hamild Awang (Balung).
However, while Shahelmy did not quit Umno so as not to breach the federal anti-hopping law as an MP, the other four assemblymen resigned from Umno to join Gagasan Rakyat Sabah, led by Hajiji, as the Sabah legislative assembly had not enacted the anti-hopping law at the time.
The Sabah government’s term will end in October 2025, but Hajiji has hinted that a state election might be held earlier. - FMT
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