Rahman said the decision on which seats Tuaran Umno would contest would be made by the division as well as the Umno president.

He said such a decision should not be arbitrarily made by an individual without discussion with the Tuaran Umno division.

“Autonomy does not mean one person making decisions alone. If a single individual makes decisions as they please, that is not autonomy – that is autocracy.

“Be a democrat, not an autocrat,” Rahman said in a Facebook post.

Yesterday, FMT reported that Sabah Umno was prepared to field Rahman as a candidate for the Sulaman seat, currently held by chief minister Hajiji Noor.

Sabah Umno chairman Bung Moktar Radin was quoted as saying that Rahman’s position as Tuaran Umno chief and his Sulaman roots made him a strong contender to represent BN in the area.

Bung was responding to a Daily Express report on Tuesday in which Rahman had hinted at stepping aside if Umno decided not to nominate him for the Sabah election.

The Kinabatangan MP said he was shocked by his deputy’s statement and that matters concerning election candidacy should be discussed at party meetings.

Rahman, a former federal minister, had said he would consider contesting if the party required him to do so.

He was the MP for Kota Belud from 2008 to 2018. He took a risk in contesting Sepanggar during the 14th general election, eventually losing to Warisan’s Azis Jamman.

Hoping for a comeback in GE15, he returned to Kota Belud but suffered another defeat – this time to Warisan’s Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis, who won with a 4,582-vote majority.