Kota Kinabalu: The Merotai state seat is shaping to be one of the “hot” constituencies in the coming 17th Sabah election, following rumours that the Secretary-General of a federal ministry is among potential candidates being considered by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), a component of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.
Tawau native Datuk Ruji Ubi, the Secretary-General in the ministry is said to be the likely candidate to challenge the incumbent Sarifuddin Hata of Warisan.
It may be part of PKR or PH’s broader strategy to boost support and trust, particularly among voters in Sabah’s eastern region.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});Ruji has not confirmed nor denied the rumours. In his most recent social media post, he said:
“Starting today (June 21), I have retired. I chose early retirement at age 55. I want to return to Tawau to ‘farm’,” he said.
Ruji, a former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom), made the remark in response to a question from a netizen.
Ruji also earlier served as Secretary-General of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Education. In the 2020 state election, Sarifuddin secured the Merotai seat with a majority of 1,587 votes.