Sabah governor's sister takes the fight to Musa Aman's stronghold
SABAH POLLS | The younger sister of Juhar Mahiruddin, the Sabah governor whose decision to dissolve the state legislative assembly paved the way to the upcoming election, is prepared to do the battle in the stronghold of former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman.
Contesting in N52 Sungai Sibuga for Warisan, 54-year-old Armani Mahiruddin said she will be banking on her experiences as a former Sabah Umno Women’s chief, former Sungai Sibuga Umno Women’s member and leader for 22 years as well as being the first woman to be elected as Dewan Negara deputy speaker.
"Even though Sungai Sibuga was held by our former chief minister, there are still a lot of things that can be changed, particularly in the development of the area," she told reporters at the Dewan Serbaguna Libaran.
"I am ready (to be compared to Musa) and if I'm given a chance to win, I will make the changes.
"We can see that his influence, as a former leader, has passed. But we still respect him as a former leader," added Armani.
Armani joined Warisan along with over 200 Sandakan Umno members in May last year, several weeks after Warisan president Shafie Apdal was sworn-in as chief minister.
Read more: Sabah Decides 2020: Making sense of the players, parties and battles
Shafie formed the Warisan-led government after GE14 following the defection of two STAR assemblypersons, breaking the coalition's tie of 29 seats with BN led by Musa.
Musa, who held the Sungai Sibuga seat for 24 years, finally ended speculations over his next political move after a no-show at the nomination centre for Sungai Sibuga, N50 Gum Gum and N51 Sungai Manila, or any other centres in the state.
He had triggered the Sabah snap polls after initiating a failed political coup to topple Shafie last month.
Leading up to today's nominations, Musa's attempts to stall the polls by filing legal challenges had also failed.
Armani is in a five-cornered contest against BN and Sabah-based parties LDP, Parti Cinta Sabah, and Parti Perpaduan Rakyat Sabah.
The candidates comprise only one incumbent from Warisan, Arunarnsin Taib in Gum-Gum, while the remaining candidates are first-time contenders.
Follow our coverage of the Sabah state election here.
