Shahelmey, who was suspended from Umno for backing Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) chairman Hajiji Noor as chief minister in 2023, decided to sit out the polls to retain his Putatan parliamentary seat.

His brother, Shah Alfie Yahya, will be contesting on a GRS ticket while Sabah Umno election director Jeffery Noor Mohamed will be seeking to regain the seat for Barisan Nasional (BN).

The other candidates contesting include Farish Adamz Shah (Perikatan Nasional), Firdaus Diun (Warisan), Rosdy Wasli (Upko), Segarah Miasin (Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat) and Azni Salleh (Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku).

The rest are Mahadthir Asbollah (Parti Impian Sabah), Mil Kusin Abdillah (Parti Kerjasama Anak Negeri), Jasni Matlani (Parti Bumi Kenyalang) and Saifullah Phang (independent).

In 2020, Shahelmey won the state seat for BN with a 1,124-vote majority.

He was among the few Sabah Umno assemblymen who defied the party’s orders to withdraw support for Hajiji in January 2023, in what was later dubbed the Kinabalu Move.

Shahelmey was then appointed as a deputy chief minister, replacing Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin, who led the party in crossing the aisle to join the opposition.

If Shahelmey had opted to contest in this state election as a candidate for any party other than BN, he would have needed to vacate his Putatan parliamentary seat because of the anti-hopping law.