Sabah polls: Runner-up Warisan coy on next step, says no talks with BN on forming state government

KOTA KINABALU: A day after his party failed to beat the incumbent ruling coalition in Sabah’s state election, Warisan president Shafie Apdal remained coy on whether it would remain in the opposition.

“We will see,” Shafie said when asked about the matter at a press conference on Sunday (Nov 30), hours after rival Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS)’s leader Hajiji Noor was sworn in as chief minister for a second term.

Shafie said that joining the state government must not compromise Warisan’s ability to represent the people’s interests. 

“I don’t want a situation where, just because I want to form the government, the people are sidelined,” he said. “We must be bold and decisive but we don’t mind working with the local parties.” 

The 68-year-old however denied holding discussions with leaders of other parties, including the Barisan Nasional (BN) pact, to negotiate the formation of a new government.

The Election Commission announced in the early hours of Sunday that GRS had won 29 seats, while its ally Pakatan Harapan (PH) – led by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim – secured one seat through the premier’s own Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR). 

Warisan, a bitter rival of the GRS-PH bloc, came in second with 25 seats. BN won six seats. 

Although no coalition or party crossed the 37-seat threshold required for a simple majority in the 73-seat assembly, GRS-PH had claimed that it had enough seats with other parties to form a coalition government.