PETALING JAYA: The by-elections for the Lamag state seat and Kinabatangan parliamentary seat will serve as Barisan Nasional’s (BN) first test in regaining ground lost in Sabah after its poor performance in the Nov 29 state election, say analysts.
Six-term Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin died last Friday, less than a week after being elected to a second term as Lamag assemblyman. The veteran politician was chairman of the Sabah chapters of Umno and BN.
Bilcher Bala and Syahruddin Awang Ahmad of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) said BN’s performance in these by-elections would provide an indication of the coalition’s direction in Sabah’s increasingly competitive political landscape.