According to Malaysiakini, Jeffrey said Chua had asked for their support.

“There was an understanding that the (Inanam) incumbent will be given the chance to continue (to serve as an assemblyman), so I support him,” he was reported as saying at an event in Keningau this afternoon.

This means PN will be canvassing against PBS, the local party that is friendly to PN, in Inanam, by backing Chua.

Jeffrey also said the other independents who were incumbents would have the chance to join PN when they won.

However, he did not reveal the number of incumbents that PN was backing. “Not all. Only a number of them,” he said.

In July, Chua, who was the Sabah assistant finance minister at the time, defected from PKR to support former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman’s bid to form a new government, which subsequently led to the state assembly being dissolved.

Yesterday, The Star reported that at least two independents were now being “adopted” as candidates by STAR.

Other than Chua, Tandek incumbent Anita Baranting, who is defending her seat, reported that her proposer and seconder were Tandek STAR division members.

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