Sabah polls: 596 candidates contesting, oldest candidate in Bingkor

KOTA KINABALU - A total of 596 candidates representing various parties have been confirmed to contest in the 17th Sabah state election after the nomination period closed at 10am on Saturday.

Election Commission chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said all the candidates will contest for the 73 State Legislative Assembly seats on Nov 29.

"No nominations were rejected. The number of multi-cornered contests includes: four-cornered contests in two State Legislative Assembly, five-cornered (eight), six-cornered (13), seven-cornered (13), eight-cornered (10), nine-cornered (eight), ten-cornered (10), eleven-cornered (nine), twelve-cornered (six), thirteen-cornered (two), fourteen-cornered (four) and a fifteen-cornered (one).

"There are 525 male candidates and 71 female candidates. Based on age groups, there are eight candidates aged 20 to 29, those aged 30 to 39 (59), 40 to 49 (146), 50 to 59 (178) and 60 and above (205).

"The oldest candidate is an 86-year-old from Parti Kebangsaan Sabah (PKS) contesting in the Bingkor constituency, while the youngest is a 24-year-old, also from PKS, contesting in Silam," he said at a press conference here, today.

He added that all candidates must pay the election campaign material deposit and were subjected to any local authority by-laws regarding the display and distribution of campaign materials containing the candidate’s photo, party logo or symbol and photos of party leaders they represented.

"Campaign materials such as advertisements, leaflets, stickers and posters must include the name and address of the printer and publisher, except for party flags, party symbol posters and photos of party leaders or contesting candidates.

"Campaign materials containing words that incite ill feelings, racial elements, religious sensitivities or seditious remarks that may cause hostility are strictly prohibited," he said.