Sabah For Sabahan Shaped Polls Result Not Anti Harapan Feelings

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The outcome of the Sabah state election has left many people surprised. Not because Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) is weak, but because for months it was hit with harsh insults.
The coalition was accused of betraying Sabah, its own people and sacrificing its dignity simply because it chose to continue working with Pakatan Harapan.
GRS never hid that decision. Long before the state assembly was dissolved, it had already announced that cooperation with Harapan would carry on. Yet despite the attacks, voters rewarded them with an even stronger mandate.
This tells us something very clear - Sabahans did not reject Harapan. They knew GRS was aligned with Harapan. They knew the partnership would continue after the election. It was not a quiet deal or an arrangement made behind closed doors. It was public knowledge.
If Sabahans were truly angry with Harapan, GRS would have been punished at the polls. But that did not happen. GRS increased its seats. This shows the people did not push Harapan away.
They simply chose a local party to manage Sabah while keeping the working relationship with Harapan intact, especially because the “Sabah for Sabahan” feeling still runs deep when people discuss the 40 percent revenue entitlement.
From my view, this sentiment is the real challenge for Harapan in Sabah. Some have claimed that Chinese voters rejected Harapan. That is not the full picture.
Many Chinese voters in Sabah were also influenced by the same local identity sentiment. They were not voting only as an ethnic group but as Sabahans responding to the same mood.
In seats where Harapan contested without a strong GRS presence, many Chinese voters shifted to Warisan or chose not to vote at all.
Local connections significant
In this election, only two local parties successfully captured large support: GRS and Warisan.
This proves that the identity of the candidate and the local connection mattered more than party labels.
If voters were rejecting Harapan outright, Warisan would have swept the map because they openly refused cooperation with Harapan. That did not happen. The results were shaped by trust in local leadership, not dislike of Harapan. 
There is another misunderstanding that needs to be addressed. Harapan’s losses in Sabah had little to do with corruption stories, abuse of power claims or the drama spread by businessperson Albert Tei.
If these issues were truly powerful, GRS would have taken the biggest hit because it was targeted with far more videos and accusations.
But Sabahans are not easily tricked. They could see what was real and what was meant to confuse them.
ADSThe results show that these accusations were not a major factor. Voters focused on which party understood them, who the candidates were and who stood closest to their community.
The Sabah election should not be read as a rejection of Harapan. It shows how important local identity remains in Sabah politics.
Harapan was not sidelined. Voters simply chose local options while keeping confidence in the existing cooperation with Harapan.
If Harapan wants to expand its support in Sabah, we must continue proving our sincerity, our consistency and our willingness to defend the rights of Sabah and Sarawak.
Constructive criticism
This outcome is not a defeat. It is a reflection of the people’s emotions. Sabahans are not pushing us away. They are showing how they feel after decades of being overlooked.
Only when Harapan formed the federal government did Sabah finally see concrete steps to restore its rights. But trust does not grow overnight.
After so many years of frustration, Sabahans want to see steady action. They want respect. They want fairness. They want to feel that the federal government understands them and treats them with dignity.
My conclusion is straightforward. We entered this election during a difficult moment. The “Sabah for Sabahan” sentiment was at its peak. Issues like the Zara Qairina Mahathir bullying case were dragged into political narratives. The 40 percent revenue decision came at a sensitive time. These were beyond our control.
What matters is that the legal process was allowed to run independently and no one interfered.
So, congratulations to Hajiji Noor on GRS’ success in the 17th Sabah state election and on his reappointment as chief minister.
CM Hajiji Noor and PM Anwar IbrahimThe strong mandate shows the people’s confidence in his leadership and the direction he intends for the state.
Appreciation is also extended to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose steady guidance helped support the cooperation throughout this period.
Harapan will continue to play its part in ensuring that the needs and interests of the people of Sabah are always brought forward and protected. - Mkini
MAHATHIR MOHD RAIS is a former Federal Territories Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional secretary. He is now a PKR member.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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