SANDAKAN - Opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin says the unusually high number of multi-cornered contests in the 17th Sabah state election shows a growing sense of frustration among voters.
He said some constituencies now have as many as 14 candidates, a situation he described as rare in previous elections.
The Bersatu deputy president said this surge in candidates showed that many people felt pressured and dissatisfied to the extent that they have decided to contest the election themselves.
“Previously, it was rare for us to see this situation because we knew that we could question the existing government, we could ask. But today we cannot. Only they make the decisions.
“The people feel that if this is the way, then let us decide our own future by contesting,” he said during a press conference after the launching of the Polling District Centre in Sandakan on Sunday night.
This election has drawn 596 candidates, a significant increase from the 447 who contested in the previous Sabah polls.