No single Sabah party qualifies to form state govt

KOTA KINABALU: There is no single party in Sabah which can form the state government independently following the result of the 14th General Election (GE14) which shows that none of them had the majority to form the government.

The Barisan Nasional (BN), which had won 29 state seats, was only short of one seat to enable it to reach a simple majority to form the government.

The Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) led by Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal won 21 seats while DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) each won six and two seats, respectively.

However, the Warisan, DAP and PKR cooperation had yet to enable the opposition to form the government because it had only 29 seats, less than one seat to achieve a simple majority that would allow it to form the government.

Since BN and Warisan and its two (Warisan) partners (DAP and PKR) each had 29 seats, both parties needed the support of the Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) which had two seats to secure a simple majority.

STAR leader Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan has decided to form a pact with Barisan Nasional (BN) Sabah to ensure the BN has a simply majority of 31 assemblymen to form the state government.

In GE14, the BN’s performance plunged into 29 state seats compared to 48 state seats in GE13 while the parliamentary seats won by the coalition also dropped by half from 22 seats in GE13 to only 10 in GE14.

In fact, Sabah BN was jarred by the shock defeat of PBS President Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan in the Tambunan state seat while Sabah’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president Datuk Teo Chee Kang was also trounced in the Tanjong Kapor state seat.

The Gerakan vice-president, who is also Sabah Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Raymond Tan Shu Kiah and Sabah MCA deputy chairman Datuk Francis Goh lost in Tanjong Papat and Kapayan state seats, respectively.

However, Sabah BN chairman and Sabah Umno Liaison chief Tan Sri Musa Aman managed to defend the Sungai Sibuga state seat with a 2,184-vote majority, significantly lower than the 11,569 votes in GE13.

PBS vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili and Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut (Upko) acting president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau each succeeded in defending the Kota Marudu parliamentary seat and the Tuaran parliamentary seat which were won in GE13. Warisan, despite winning 22 state seats, has won less than half of the 45 state seats contested by the party.

Shafie himself won the Senallang seat defeating his own cousin Datuk Seri Nasir Tun Sakaran with a majority of 5,301 and also defended Semporna’s parliamentary seat which he won on a BN ticket in GE13.

In GE-14, Warisan managed to win eight parliamentary seats, PKR and DAP, three, respectively, while the Solidariti Party, one. Bernama