PETALING JAYA: Parti Cinta Sabah president Anifah Aman may now have a better chance of winning the Bongawan state assembly seat in the coming state elections, but only in a straight fight, backed by the ruling state coalition, says a political analyst.
Anifah’s party lost in all 73 seats contested in 2020, but analyst Lee Kuok Tiung of Universiti Malaysia Sabah said the situation was now different. Anifah would have an advantage now that the party was part of the ruling Gabungan Rakyat Sabah.
However, political analyst James Chin of the University of Tasmania said Anifah would suffer a defeat if there was a three-cornered fight between GRS, Barisan Nasional and Warisan.
Chin predicted that Anifah’s only path to victory would be in a straight fight, backed fully by GRS, which accepted PCS as its eighth component party in May last year.
On Wednesday Anifah announced that he intended to contest the Bongawan state seat. He said he wanted to fight for the people in the constituency, who still face basic infrastructure issues.
Lee said Anifah would now have an advantage, with PCS in the ruling coalition, compared with 2020 when PCS contested solo, without an alliance.
He said Bongawan is not unfamiliar territory for Anifah, as he previously served as the MP for Kimanis, the parliamentary seat that encompasses Bongawan and Membakut state constituencies.
Anifah had also contested the Bongawan seat in 2020 but was defeated by 1,802 votes in a four-cornered fight involving Warisan, Barisan Nasional and the Liberal Democratic Party.
Anifah left Umno in 2019 to become an independent, but lost his Kimanis parliamentary seat when the election was annulled due to irregularities.
He later joined PCS and became its president in July 2020. In January 2023, Anifah was appointed special adviser on international relations and foreign investment to Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor and was later made a senator.
Chin said Anifah’s prospects in Bongawan would depend on how many candidates are running for the seat.
“If it is a three-cornered fight between GRS, BN and Warisan, then it is highly likely he will lose again,” Chin told FMT. “He didn’t do that well the last time around and I don’t think there are significant changes to warrant better chances.”
He said that Anifah’s reputation, including as a former federal minister, would not count for much in Sabah, as voters would often focus on personality. “Unfortunately, he’s not that big a name in Sabah,” Chin said.
