KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 — Detailed polling-stream analysis of the recent Sabah state election shows that voters strongly favoured local parties, but preferred those aligned with the federal government, according to Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
Saifuddin said the analysis went beyond broad constituency results and examined voting patterns down to individual polling streams across all state seats.
“The most important signal is that Sabahans strongly prioritised local parties — the ‘Sabah for Sabahans’ sentiment.
“That is the first clear fact,” he said, adding that the biggest beneficiaries of this sentiment were Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Parti Warisan.
However, he said further analysis showed that when GRS and Warisan went head-to-head, GRS — which campaigned on state and federal relations — emerged as the clear winner.
“There were 52 state seats where GRS and Warisan directly competed, and the major victories went to GRS.
“This tells us that while Sabahans want Sabah-based parties, they chose the Sabah party that is more openly cooperative with the federal unity government,” he said.
Saifuddin said the message from voters was that they wanted respect, recognition, and a state government capable of working closely with the federal government.
“This is a far more important signal. Sabahans value unity and want a state government that can work hand in hand with the unity government,” he said.
He said Pakatan Harapan had completed its internal post-election discussions, with further meetings at the unity government level expected in the coming days.
“From my perspective, the recent outcome is a victory for the unity government.
“While Pakatan Harapan may not have won many seats, what matters more is the victory of unity,” he added.
