Hajiji, who is GRS chairman, said Shahelmey Yahya and Andi Muhammad Suryady Bandy have expressed interest in representing the coalition or contesting under its ticket.

“I have no objections to that because they are both leaders – one is a minister while the other is an assistant minister,” The Borneo Post quoted Hajiji as saying.

He said any formal announcement on their status would be made at the appropriate time.

Shahelmey, who is MP for Putatan, was elected to the Tanjung Keramat state seat in 2020 on a Barisan Nasional ticket.

He is currently the deputy chief minister III and state works minister in the caretaker Sabah Cabinet.

Andi was elected to the Tanjung Batu state assembly seat and is the caretaker industrial development and entrepreneurship assistant minister.

Shahelmey and Andi were among the seven Umno assemblymen who had backed Hajiji in the 2023 attempt of ousting him as chief minister through a loss of his state assembly majority.

They were subsequently suspended from Umno.

Last month, Hajiji hinted that Shahelmey will contest as a GRS candidate and expressed confidence in the latter defending his seat in the state election, expected to be held within weeks.

Talks on seats still on

Hajiji said GRS has yet to finalise its list of candidates for the next election, stating that “nomination day is still far away.”

The state assembly was dissolved on Oct 6. Elections must be held within 60 days. The date will be set by the Election Commission.

Hajiji said discussions with Pakatan Harapan on seat allocations were continuing, after a recent meeting with PH secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

On reports that PH was asking for over 20 seats, Hajiji said such demands were normal within any coalition, but urged both PH and GRS to adopt a practical approach.

“GRS is asking for areas where we have high chances of winning, to ensure victory,” he said.