KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Umno is considering contesting the Bugaya state seat if a by-election is held soon.

       The seat has been vacant since the death of its assemblyman, Manis Muka Mohd Darah in 2020.

       State Umno chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin said that although the influence of Parti Warisan Sabah was strong back then, which saw its candidate Manis Muka win the 2018 general election, Umno was slowly gaining back its supporters.

       “In that election, Umno did not field any candidate but instead, let Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia contest. But this time round, we are thinking of placing our candidate,” he said after a meeting with the Semporna Umno division members recently.

       “We see that Umno is slowly getting stronger, and this has been proven from the several by-elections held nationwide, including the Melaka polls, which saw our candidate winning,” he said.

       Bung is confident that as long as members and grassroots leaders work hard to reach out to their supporters, they can make a strong comeback. He said Umno can retake its seat if it worked hard enough.

       Bugaya has been an Umno seat since 2004, until Manis Muka of Warisan took over in 2018.

       Bugaya is one of the three state constituencies under the Semporna parliamentary constituency, which is the stronghold of Shafie, who is the Semporna MP and Senallang assemblyman.