The former Dewan Rakyat speaker told reporters he was willing to wager that he would clinch the seat on Nov 29 thanks to his strong grassroots support and extensive political experience.

“My comment is this, I will win. You want to bet with me? Anyone wants to bet with me that I’ll win?” he said, reported Sinar Harian.

“I’m confident I will win this seat. If you’re not confident, do you want to bet with me? Anyone wants to bet?” he said when met by reporters at the Sabah International Convention Centre in Kota Kinabalu.

Pandikar recalled his narrow defeat in the 2020 state election when he lost to Perikatan Nasional’s Fairuz Renddan, who is now with Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah, by only 84 votes.

“At that time, I was caught between Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional. I received 2,660 votes and lost by just 84,” he said.

“Now, I’m a candidate from the ruling coalition.”

Fairuz won the Pintasan seat in 2020 with 2,744 votes, defeating Pandikar and three other candidates.

GRS today announced that it will contest 55 of the 73 seats up for grabs in the state election.

Coalition chairman Hajiji Noor said 51 candidates would be named today, with the remaining four to be announced tomorrow.

Other key GRS figures in the line-up include acting Parti Bersatu Sabah president Joachim Gunsalam (Kundasang), GRS secretary-general Masidi Manjun (Karanaan) and GRS information chief Joniston Bangkuai (Kiulu).