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Anwar’s ally still in charge of Sabah, but danger looms for Malaysian PM’s own support base
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Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's (right) Pakatan Harapan won just one seat at the Sabah polls, but will hope to count on Chief Minister Hajiji Noor's loyalty, going forward.
PHOTO: BERNAMA
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- Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), led by its chairman Hajiji Noor, won the Sabah state election with 29 seats, pipping rival Parti Warisan that took 25 seats. Datuk Seri Hajiji was quickly sworn in as Chief Minister for a second term.
- National parties, including PM Anwar's Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition struggled as Sabahans favoured local parties, driven by autonomy and anti-federal sentiment.
- PH's poor performance in Sabah raises concerns about its support in upcoming state elections in Sarawak, Melaka and Johor.
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KUALA LUMPUR – The votes in the hotly contested Sabah state election have been counted. But while the expected hung assembly materialised, it reflected not a deeply divided electorate, but one united in rejecting parties that hail from outside of Malaysia’s easternmost state.
This simplified what pundits and players alike had initially expected to be a prolonged period of horse-trading to form a broad-based state government.
