PAPAR: Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) deputy secretary-general Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali rejected claims that Chinese voters had turned against the ruling coalition in the 17th State Election, saying such a narrative did not reflect the overall results.
He cited the Pantai Manis seat, where a GRS candidate won at the Bandar polling district centre with a Chinese-majority electorate, marking the first such victory there in five elections, including the 15th General Election when he himself contested.
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Armizan said it was inaccurate to claim a blanket rejection by Chinese voters, noting that GRS did not contest any Chinese-majority constituencies in the 17th State Election and that voting patterns varied across seats.
He was speaking at a press conference held in conjunction with the announcement of the Christmas 2025 Festive Season Maximum Price Scheme, where he also pointed to the poor showing of several parties as a signal voters wanted change.
The Papar MP said election outcomes must be respected and used as a prompt for improvement, adding that Sabahans, including the Chinese community, were watching closely to see how the state government would deliver on its commitments under the SMJ 2.0 direction.
