NINE of the 14 lawmakers indirectly responsible for causing the Sabah election through their party-hopping antics have returned to contest in their constituencies.

Of the nine, five are contesting as independents using logos that range from chairs to keys to trees.

The remaining four have either joined new parties or returned to the old parties they left in 2018.

The nine are among the 14 assemblypersons who stopped supporting the Warisan Plus government and pledged their allegiance to ex-chief minister Musa Aman on July 29.

Their change of loyalties had prompted Warisan chief minister Mohd Shafie Apdal to dissolve the assembly and call for fresh elections as Warisan Plus had lost majority support in the 73-seat legislature.

In this election, incumbent alliance Warisan Plus is facing off against a pact made up of Perikatan Nasional (PN), Sabah Umno and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS).

Warisan Plus is made up of Parti Warisan Sabah, DAP, PKR and United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko).

Perikatan consists of Bersatu, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku Rakyat Sabah (Star), Parti Progresif Sabah (SAPP) and PAS, while Sabah Umno, Sabah MCA and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) make up Sabah BN.

The five defectors running as independents are Kenny Chua who is standing again in Inanam, Anita Baranting in Tandek, Abdul Rahman Kongkawang in Labuk, Masiung Banah in Kuamut and Saddi Abdul Rahman in Sukau.

According to the Katak Sabah website, Chua is a former member of PKR, Saddi is a former Umno-turned-Warisan member, while Masiung was a former Upko member who joined Warisan.

Baranting and Abdul Rahman had contested under the PBS banner in 2018 before joining Warisan.

The remaining four Musa-aligned reps who are making a comeback are James Ratib who is being fielded in Sugut, Abidin Madingkir in Paginatan, Muis Picho in Sebatik and Limus Jury in Kuala Penyu.

Muis and Limus are both contesting under the Bersatu banner in this round. In 2018, Muis contested under Umno while Limus ran under the Upko flag.

After GE14, the duo pledged their support to Warisan Plus but defected from the coalition this year after the Pakatan Harapan federal government was brought down in late February.

Abidin is another former Upko rep who will now contest under the Star banner of the PN alliance.

James Ratib is the only candidate who is contesting under the same party during GE14 despite the fact that he had abandoned it in 2018 to support Warisan Plus.

Ratib had contested under Umno in 2018 before leaving it to join Upko.

This time, he is running again as an Umno candidate. – September 12, 2020.