Siringan Gubat
Masidi Manjun
Ewon Ebin
KOTA KINABALU: It is likely to be a minimum four-cornered fight for the Ranau parliamentary constituency in the 13th general election (GE13).
Political observers noted that Barisan Nasional (BN) will very likely retain its incumbents, namely member of parliament Datuk Siringan Gubat, Karanaan assemblyman Datuk Masidi Manjun, Paginatan assemblyman Datuk Ewon Ebin and Kundasang assemblyman Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam.
There is a high possibility that Siringan (BN-Upko), who may be BN’s choice again, would be challenged by Pakatan Rakyat, Sabah STAR and at least two independent candidates for the seat, they said, adding that PKR would most likely field Jonathan Yassin in Ranau while Sabah STAR’s candidate could be Juliana Situn.
In the 2008 election, Siringan polled 14,074 votes against Jonathan who garnered 6,823 votes.
For the Karanaan state seat, incumbent Masidi (BN-Umno) may be facing former state Education Director Datuk Dr Muhiddin Yusin, who recently joined PKR. Another contender for the constituency, which has 11,087 voters, is said to be Jalibin Paidi (Sabah STAR).
People on the ground are saying that Muhiddin, if fielded, will be using the education autonomy for Sabah issue when campaigning and he is quite influential in the area.
Masidi won the seat in the 2008 election with a 6,505-vote majority over his challenger, Atin @ Attin Naisin (PKR) who polled 1,389 votes.
In the Paginatan constituency, incumbent Ewon (BN-UPKO) may likely be the BN’s choice and he may be in a four-cornered fight as he faces challenges from Pakatan Rakyat, Sabah STAR and at least two independent candidates.
According to the political observers, Pakatan is considering to field Morris Awit (APS) as its candidate in Paginatan this time.
Ebin polled 5,206 votes to PKR candidate Paul Kerangkas’s 1,749 votes in the 12th general election.
There are talks, however, that Siringan and Ewon may be swapping seats.
In Kundasang, which has 9,639 voters, Joachim may be retained and could face Japiril Suhaimin, who will be representing SAPP.
Joachim had faced Japiril in the 2008 election when the latter stood as an independent and polled 1,180 votes to Joachim’s 3,597.