Kota Kinabalu: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) Acting President Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam wants Chinese leaders in the party to explain the decline in community support and chart a way to recover it.
The party now holds only one Chinese parliamentary seat.
“The question we need to ask ourselves, especially the Chinese leaders, is why has Chinese support for the PBS gone down and what can we do to bring it back,” he said, when closing the Annual General Meeting of the Api-Api and Luyang divisions, at Hakka Hall, Sunday.
Dr Joachim said the contrast with earlier decades is obvious, noting that the PBS once fielded Chinese elected representatives in Api-Api, Tanjung Papat, Elopura and Sri Tanjung at the state level and at one point commanded three Chinese Members of Parliament.
“Today, the party holds no Chinese state assembly seats and only one Chinese parliamentary seat, in Tawau,” he said.
The highest ranking PBS leader is Datuk Yee Moh Chai.
He said the Chinese community remained one of the PBS’ most valued partners since the party’s founding, having contributed to Sabah’s economic development, education, entrepreneurship and community growth over four decades.
“The PBS values and appreciates the partnership and the trust that the Chinese community has given to the party over the years,” he said.
The party’s leadership structure had been deliberately designed to ensure Chinese representation at the highest levels alongside non-Muslim Bumiputera and Muslim Bumiputera leaders, so that no community would be left behind or marginalised.
He said political stability was one tangible offering the PBS could make to the Chinese community, particularly to those with business interests.
“If there is no stability, no one will want to invest in any project unless the government is stable, unless the politics is stable,” he said, adding that investors, whether domestic or international, required a stable environment before committing to Sabah.
He also appealed to young Chinese PBS members, saying that while some families could afford to send their children overseas, many in the community would remain in Sabah and needed leaders who would fight for their future.
He urged Chinese youth leaders to engage their communities on the ground rather than relying solely on social media outreach, saying that having even two solid members in each housing estate could serve as a bridge between the party and ordinary residents.
