SAPP are expected to decide whether or not they will contest the Batu Sapi by-election when their supreme council meets in Kota Kinabalu this Saturday.

Deputy president Eric Majimbun said the meeting will be held at the party’s headquarters starting 10am.

“I think we will decide then whether or not we will contest the seat. We won’t say anything for now as the funeral is today and we also need to wait for the Election Commission’s (EC) announcement tomorrow,” he said when met in Parliament today.

Edmund Chong Ket Wah, MP Batu Sapi The Batu Sapi parliamentary seat fell vacant last Saturday after the death of incumbent Edmund Chong Ket Wah ( left ) in a motorcycle accident in Kota Kinabalu.

The EC announced earlier this week that it will have a meeting in Putrajaya tomorrow on the impending by-election and are expected to announce the nomination and polling dates.

The Batu Sapi by-election is expected to be hotly contested as it is seen as a pivotal contest that will indicate Sabah voters’ acceptance of a reinvigorated opposition presence in the nation’s second-largest state.

Pakatan Rakyat Sabah has been given full autonomy by the coalition’s national leadership to decide which party between the three partners - PKR, DAP and PAS - will put up a candidate, indicating that they won’t be passing up this challenge.

In the clearest indication yet that the opposition coalition are gunning for the seat, Pakatan de facto chief Anwar Ibrahim said yesterday that they expect Pakatan Sabah to inform them of their decision by this coming Monday at the latest, after the state coalition meets this weekend.

Should both SAPP and Pakatan Sabah decide to contest Batu Sapi, the by-election is expected to become more than a three-way battle, factoring in aspiring Sabah politicians’ penchant to stand as independents.

As for the incumbents, the ruling BN coalition is expected to leave it to PBS to defend the seat, by virtue of Chong being the party’s treasurer general.

A party insider said they will only meet next week to discuss the issue of finding a replacement, though rumours are already making the rounds that former Sungai Sibuga assemblyperson and PBS supreme council member Thien Fui Yun is a potential candidate.

“The party leadership may also be looking at senior leaders in Batu Sapi, but they’re only meeting next week. For now, we want to put this unfortunate death behind us,” the source said on condition of anonymity.