THE battle for Sabah’s 25 parliamentary and 60 state seats will pit Parti Warisan Sabah – led by former Umno stalwart Shafie Apdal – against Barisan Nasional (BN), whose charge will be led by Sabah Umno liaison chief Musa Aman.

Both men are sworn political enemies.

Warisan’s mission, among others, is to see the Sabah BN regime fall, form a state government while limiting Peninsular Malaysia’s influence in local politics.

It’s a message that resonates strongly with Sabahans, said Sabahan Johan Ariffin of the G25 grouping of influential former civil servants.

The party’s GE14 manifesto lists defending Sabah’s rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), controlling state revenue and resources, as well as enacting law and land reforms.

“I see people are growing tired of Umno control of the state and Umno politics,” Johan said.

“They want to go back to when Sabah was ruled by local parties and when we had more control of government policies and directions.”

But a race-based legacy from more than 20 years of BN rule will prove a challenge for Shafie, who has attempted to break the racial divide by declaring Warisan a multiracial party.

Warisan will also be forced to fight complex, multi-cornered fights in almost all constituencies, making it all the much harder to secure victories.

“Voters will might just break their votes or spoil their votes… It’s just too overcrowded” said Richard Simon, a Kadazan from Penampang.

Underdog Warisan has an electoral pact with Pakatan Harapan’s Sabah DAP and Sabah PKR but will lead the opposition charge in Sabah. Shafie said Warisan will contest 45 state seats and 17 parliamentary seats.

Sabah PKR will contest in 15 seats (six federal and nine state seats) and Sabah DAP 10 seats (three federal and seven state seats). – April 28, 2018.