2026 Lamag by-election

2026 Lamag by-election

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N58 Lamag seat in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly
BN WARISAN Candidate TBA TBA Party UMNO WARISAN Alliance BN
Lamag assemblyman before election Bung Moktar Radin (deceased) BN (UMNO) Elected Lamag assemblyman TBA TBA

A by-election in Lamag is scheduled to be held on 24 January 2026 for the Sabah State Legislative Assembly seat of Lamag . It was called following the death of Bung Moktar Radin on 5 December 2025. ^[1] Bung served as the Lamag MLA from 2020. The by-election is held concurrently with the 2026 Kinabatangan by-election, the federal seat Bung held.

The election is the first by-election since the 2025 Sabah state election which was held on 29 November 2025, only 6 days before Bung's death. ^[2] Bung defended the seat and was reelected as the Lamag MLA after very narrowly defeating independent candidate Mohd Ismail Ayub, Johainizamshah Johari of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), Saifulah Lokman of the Heritage Party (WARISAN), Mazlin Madali of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Salahuddin Anoi of the Parti Impian Sabah (PIS) by a majority of only 153 votes. ^[3]

Background

Lamag is a Muslim Bumiputera-majority seat comprising predominantly 86.0% of the overall voters, followed by 13.6% non-Muslim Bumiputera and 0.40% Chinese.

Bung Moktar died on 5 December 2025 at Kota Kinabalu Gleneagles Hospital, after being hospitalized for kidney failure and a lung infection. ^[4]

Nomination

BN is expected to nominate a candidate to contest the by-election and defend the seat.

Gabungan Rakyat Sabah announced it would not contest the seat out of respect for Bung. ^[5] Perikatan Nasional similarly also decided not to contest both the Kinabatangan and Lamag seats. ^[6]

Timeline

The key dates are listed below.

Date	Event
5 December 2025	Bung Moktar Radin died in office as the Lamag MLA
16 December 2025	Issue of the Writ of Election
10 January 2026	Nomination Day
10 - 23 January 2026	Campaigning Period
20 January 2026	Early Polling Day For Postal, Overseas and Advance Voters
24 January 2026	Polling Day

Results

Sabah state by-election, 24 January 2026: Lamag
Upon the death of the incumbent, Bung Moktar Radin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	BN	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
	Heritage	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
Total valid votes			TBA	100.00
Total rejected ballots			TBA
Unreturned ballots			TBA
Turnout			TBA	TBA
Registered electors
Majority			TBA

Previous results

Sabah state election, 2025 : Lamag

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	BN	Bung Moktar Radin	3,908	39.14	13.42
	Independent	Mohd Ismail Ayob	3,755	37.61	37.61
	GRS	Johainizamshah Johari	1,646	16.49	16.49
	Heritage	Mohd Saifulah Lokman	372	3.73	37.39
	PN	Mazlin Madali	258	2.58	2.58
	Sabah Dream Party	Salahuddin Anoi	45	0.45	0.45
Total valid votes			9,984
Total rejected ballots			129
Unreturned ballots			8
Turnout			10,121	73.03	2.26
Registered electors			13,859
Majority			153	1.53	9.91
	BN hold		Swing
Source(s) [ citation needed ]

References

1. Sabah BN chairman Bung passes away
2. "Malaysia's BN leader Bung Moktar dies of illness, days after retaining seat in Sabah election". The Straits Times. 5 December 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
3. "Bung Moktar retains Lamag seat in Sabah state election". The Sun. 30 November 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
4. "Bung Moktar hospitalised with kidney failure and severe lung infection - Jafry". New Straits Times. 5 December 2025. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
5. Chan, Julia (16 December 2025). "GRS unlikely to contest Kinabatangan, Lamag by‑elections out of respect for Bung Moktar, says Hajiji". The Malay Mail . Retrieved 17 December 2025.
6. Mahsinah Abdullah, Sharifah (10 December 2025). "PN to sit out Kinabatangan, Lamag by-elections in Sabah". New Straits Times . Retrieved 20 December 2025.