PETALING JAYA: Former Sabah Chief Minister Salleh Said Keruak has warned against importing peninsula-style Malay unity rhetoric into the state, saying politics framed too heavily along racial and religious lines could disrupt the state’s long-standing social harmony.
“Many speak about Malay and Muslim unity in national politics. That narrative may suit the peninsula. But Sabah is different – especially in party politics,” he said in a Facebook post.
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“Politics framed too heavily along racial and religious lines can create deep divisions,” he said, adding that such rhetoric tends to grow louder as elections approach.
“To Sabahans, this does not help (solve) our differences – it risks widening them.” His remarks come amid renewed calls for greater Malay political consolidation at the national level ahead of the next general election.
On Feb 22, opposition MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said efforts to unite Malay parties must translate into an electoral pact to consolidate political power.
In 2019, Umno and PAS, arguably the nation’s two largest Malay-Muslim parties, formed the Muafakat Nasional pact, but it collapsed after PAS joined Bersatu in establishing Perikatan Nasional, which went on to form a new government in 2020.
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had also launched several initiatives to unite the Malay polity, including the Gerakan Tanah Air coalition spearheaded by his party Pejuang which, however, failed to win even a single seat in the 2022 general election.
Salleh said Sabah’s politics was anchored in autonomy, development and accommodation, including safeguarding the state’s rights, focusing on economic progress and managing diversity with maturity.
“Our stability rests on balance and accommodation, not the dominance of a single narrative. That is why Sabah must remain mindful.
We must shield our social fabric from political currents that do not reflect our realities,” he said.
He also acknowledged that while competition among parties was normal during elections, stability must take precedence afterwards. “We may differ in approach, but we share one responsibility: to protect Sabah’s harmony and secure its future,” he said.
