KOTA KINABALU – A total of 596 candidates will be contesting for 73 state seats in the 17th Sabah state election, Election Commission (EC) chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said.
The majority of this number are independent candidates (74) – far surpassing the 56 independents who contested in the last state elections in 2020.
Bernama quoted Ramlan saying that Parti Warisan will contest in 73 seats, while Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) will be fielding candidates in 55 seats. BN and Pakatan Harapan will be contesting in 45 seats and 22 seats, respectively. The remaining seats are contested by other Sabah-based parties.
Ramlan said that there are 525 male candidates and 71 female candidates, and the oldest candidate is Uling @ Thomas Anggan, 86, of Parti Kebangsaan Sabah (PKS), who is contesting the Bingkor seat, while the youngest candidate is Mohd Syafiq Iqhmal Saharudin, 24, also from PKS.
Tulid state constituency will have the most candidates contesting at 14 candidates, followed by Bandau, Tamparuli, Inanam, and Kapayan, each with 13 candidates. Banggi and Moyong have 12-cornered fights, while Bengkoka, Tanjong Kapor, Pintasan, Karambunai, Tanjung Keramat and Balung will have 11 candidates contesting.
“Also, 10 seats have nine-cornered fights, eight seats have eight-cornered fights, 10 seats (seven-cornered fight), 13 seats (six-cornered fights), eight seats (five-cornered fights) and two seats with four-cornered fights,” he said.
The EC has set up 86 election campaign enforcement teams to monitor all campaigning activities throughout the campaigning period that begins today till 11.59 pm, Nov 28.
Polling day is on Nov 29, while early voting is set on Nov 25.– November 15, 2025