The election results vindicate Sabah Progressive Party’s view that peninsula-based parties should not interfere in Sabah elections.
Despite deploying massive resources during the campaign, all “Malaya” parties performed poorly, reflecting a clear rejection by the Sabah electorate.
Altogether the peninsula parties combined only managed eight seats with Barisan Nasional (6), Pakatan Harapan (1) and Perikatan Nasional (1).
PN-PPBM should have stayed out of the Sabah elections entirely. The single seat won by PN-PAS did not reflect the coalition’s strength. It was due instead to the relatively weak machinery of GRS and Warisan in that constituency, combined with a last-minute candidate change.
“The sizeable number of voters at the Sepanggar Naval Base is also believed to have played a decisive role,” said SAPP Information Chief Chin Vui Kai.
He said SAPP will continue to pursue the 40 per cent entitlement, the resolution of the Territorial Sea Act 2012, and other key MA63 matters.
Future elections, including parliamentary seats, will be a matter for “Sabah local parties only” as Sabahans reclaim our dignity and rights, he said.
The Democratic Action Party (DAP) suffered a complete wipeout, a sharp contrast to their performance in the 2020 Sabah election and the 2022 parliamentary election, where they had commanding majorities.
“As for the lone Pakatan Harapan (PH) victory in Melalap, it cannot be attributed to the strength of PH or PKR. The win was largely due to the fact that the candidate is a GRS leader. Local factors mattered far more than the party flag,” he said.
He said although SAPP did not win in the six areas contested, “we take great comfort in the fact that our core call for the rejection of Malaya parties has succeeded.”
The results show that awareness of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and the demand for full autonomy have taken deep root in the hearts of Sabahans, he said.
He attributed the awareness to SAPP having first raised MA63 during the 2010 Batu Sapi by-election.
“The seeds we planted have borne fruit.”
