Chua said the decision was made after PBS reneged on their promise to not field any candidates contested by their allies.

“PN leaders from PPBM and STAR gave me the green light to stand in Inanam,” he told reporters

Chua was sacked by PKR in July for supporting former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman’s unsuccessful move to form a new government. The state assembly was subsequently dissolved, causing fresh elections to be called.

“I have the right to face the rakyat, regardless if they want to vote me back in or not,” he said, referring to the elections on Sept 26.

Chua went on to say that PBS should not have contested in seats at which STAR was fielding candidates.

Apart from Inanam, PBS is also contesting in Tambunan, where STAR president Jeffrey Kitingan is the candidate, as well as Moyog, Kepayan, Tanjung Aru and Paginatan.

“I think what happened was, many individuals (from PBS) wanted to become candidates, so they allowed it. So of course people are angry.”

In the 2018 general election, Chua was elected on a PKR ticket, winning the seat with a 7,783 majority after garnering 13,633 votes.

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