KIMANIS POLLS | PAS may set up a branch in Kimanis in near future as the Islamic party has been well received by locals, PAS vice-president Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah (above) said.

PAS will try to obtain the support of local people during the Kimanis by-election campaign period, he said.

"At the moment, we have no strength in Kimanis at all. So, we will put more effort into setting up PAS (a branch) officially in Kimanis," he told reporters after handing over an appointment letter to a local councillor in Kelantan yesterday.

He reiterated that PAS would give full support to BN, based on unity among Muslims.

"There is an interesting development (in Kimanis), it is an even match," he was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian.

PAS formed Muafakat Nasional with Umno in September 2018 and the cooperation in the opposition bloc has been proven successful in the Tanjung Piai by-election, where BN's Wee Jeck Seng won with a landslide majority of 15,087 votes.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has called for Muafakat Nasional to adapt to the conditions in Sabah.

Sabah BN has persuaded local opposition parties to make way for BN in the Kimanis by-election.

The Jan 18 Kimanis poll is a straight fight between BN's Mohamad Alamin and Warisan's Karim Bujang.

Both candidates had previously served as the state assemblypersons in Bongawan, a state seat under the Kimanis constituency.

Karim, 67, was a five-term Bongawan representative under Usno's ticket and then under Umno from 1990 to 2013.

He joined Warisan last year and contested in the Kimanis by-election.

The then BN's Anifah Aman won the seat with a slim majority of 156 votes. Anifah quit Umno in September 2018.

However, the apex court nullified the 2018 general election result for the seat on Dec 1, 2018.

Mohamad, who is fondly known as Toh Moh, is a 48-year-old Kota Kinabalu-based lawyer.

He succeeded Karim as the Bongawan assemblyperson in 2013, but failed to retain his seat in 2018 election.

Kimanis is a semi-urban seat of 29,644 registered voters, where 63.16 percent are Muslim bumiputera, 30.67 percent non-Muslim bumiputera, 3.59 percent Chinese and 2.58 percent others.