Kota Kinabalu: TAN Sri Musa Aman is not on the list of Sabah BN candidates, ending weeks of speculation that the former Sabah Chief Minister may make a comeback in GE15.
Sabah BN Chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin told reporters that Musa never told him he wanted to contest in the election.
“There was no intention to include him because he never told me he wanted to stand,” he told reporters. Musa, the former Sungai Sibuga Assemblyman, was Sabah Chief Minister from 2003 to 2018.
Musa’s son Yamani Hafez is also not on the candidates’ list despite winning the Sipitang seat in the 2018 general election. Yamani won the seat on an Umno ticket. He defected to Bersatu in 2020.
“Yamani will not be defending his seat because according to the Chief Minister, he refused to contest,” Bung said.
Political talk prior to the announcement was that Musa was gunning to return to the foreground of politics.
Speculation was rife that he was eyeing the Libaran seat, which houses the Sungai Sibuga seat, which was his for six terms.
The seat was given to Nominated Assemblyman Datuk Suhaimi Nasir who is Umno Libaran Chief, while Hafez’s Sipitang seat was given to Bersatu’s Datuk Matbali Musah.
Former Deputy Ministers, including Sabah Bersatu Wanita Chief Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun (Beaufort) and Datuk Rahim Bakri (Kudat), Libaran’s Datuk Zakariah Edris, both also from Bersatu, were also dropped.
On the Beluran parliamentary seat, Bung said GRS and BN are still in discussion on the candidate. He said the decision on the candidate who will contest the parliamentary seat will be announced before the nomination day on Nov 5.
At the event, neither party announced any candidate to contest the Beluran parliamentary seat.
The Beluran parliamentary seat is currently held by Bersatu Vice-President Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee, who is also the Minister of Agriculture and Food Industries.
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