BARISAN Nasional had to keep Joseph Pairin Kitingan in the Tambunan state seat to help boost the coalition’s waning chances of winning in the state’s interior, said Musa Aman.

The Sabah BN chairman said he had sought Najib Razak to persuade Pairin, who wanted to retire, to contest.  

“Pairin’s participation in this election will help BN in the interior division.

“The PBS leader had at first expressed his intention to retire from politics, but he agreed to contest again after discussing the matter,” he said, at a meet-the-people session at Pisompuruan Square in Tambunan.

About 3,000 people attended the programme, which also saw Musa hand native land titles and communal titles to several villagers in the interior district.

The Sabah Umno liaison chief opened the month-long Kaamatan Harvest Festival, which saw around 1,000 people, largely from the Kadazan-Dusun, Murut, and Rungus communities in attendance. – May 1, 2018.