PRIME Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s popularity, along with the performance of his administration were the key factors that led to the victory of his coalition in the Sabah polls, said a think tank. 

Muhyiddin was even liked by supporters of his rivals in the Warisan Plus coalition, said the Society Empowerment and Economic Development of Sabah (SEEDS), in a statement today.

Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional is in an informal pact with Sabah Barisan Nasional and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) called Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) 

In yesterday’s polls, PN won 17 seats, BN (14) and PBS (7), handing them 38 seats, giving them a majority in the 73-seat Sabah legislature.

SEEDS said Muhyiddin’s popularity was apparent in its survey of voters in Sabah’s 25 parliamentary constituencies.

Muhyiddin was not only popular among BN-PN-PBS supporters, he was also liked by those aligning to the local-based parties and Warisan Plus.

“The study put the comparison of both PN and Warisan side by side, and it presented a clear and palpable dissatisfaction of the public towards Warisan in term of its governance and economic management which is enough to be put into voting action against Warisan and its allies,” SEEDS said in the statement.

PN’s management of the country in Covid-19 crisis helped swing support from the incumbent Warisan Plus to GRS, the think tank said.

The poll results also showed that a majority of Sabah voters believed in the need to have a regional government that was aligned to the PN federal government – something that Warisan Plus lacked as it supported the former Pakatan Harapan coalition.

Warisan Plus is led by former chief minister Mohd Shafie Apdal and comprises his Parti Warisan Sabah, DAP, PKR and Upko, which together won 32 seats. 

Independent candidates won three seats.

“While Warisan Plus’s message of unity resonated well among some Sabahans, it was not enough to sway the voters who clearly wanted a government with a focus on rebuilding the economy and having a plan to secure the people’s economic hardship,” SEEDS said.

“Warisan’s message of unity, even though felt far and large, has not been able to work into voting action especially considering unity is not a key issue for Sabahans as it is in the peninsular.” – September 27, 2020.