TRADITIONALLY, the slogan “Sabah for Sabahans” includes restoring the Malaysia Agreement 1963 rights of Sabah, and defending the constitutional rights of the state are the interest and guiding principles of Sabahan parties to win over voters in state polls. 

Therefore, “Sabah identity” is one of the reasons for voters to support the local-based party.

For Peninsular Malaysians, one of the well-known Sabah local parties is Warisan and its leader Mohd Shafie Apdal. His political views, in particular during the recent state elections, caught the public’s attention when he announced the dissolution of the state assembly. This came after several elected reps from the Shafie-led state government defected and threw their support behind former chief minister Musa Aman.

In addition, Dr Mahathir Mohamad once endorsed Shafie as prime minister candidate for Pakatan Harapan Plus, along with Anwar Ibrahim and Mukhriz as his respective deputies. 

Therefore, Shafie and his party became more popular than other Sabah local parties.

During Warisan’s annual general meeting recently, he said the party has intentions to expand to the peninsula.

In his view, Warisan can become a national party and the opposition should have a fresh leadership even from East Malaysia. Warisan would play a role in uniting both east and west Malaysia and work towards becoming a national party in a multiethnic society.

It was a rather bold gambit and managed to pique some curiosity. My non-Sabahan friends asked me, “Have Sabah’s local political parties ever extended their presence in Peninsular Malaysia? What could PH’s future look like, if a new leadership comes from Sabah?”

Popular but losers in the recent battle in Sabah

I guess most in the peninsula might be clueless about Warisan, even when it was one of the popular local parties during the most recent September state elections.

In the eyes of Peninsular Malaysians, an impression of Warisan probably came from Shafie, the former Sabah chief minister.

During his time, the state government declared December 24 as an additional public holiday and announced the recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate at the state level. 

Being a Muslim, he does not hesitate to wear a Christmas hat during Christmas, a traditional costume during Chinese New Year and Harvest Festival. To him, celebration of festivals are a symbol of solidarity and harmony of the various races and religions in the state.

Therefore, he is recognised as a significant political leader who values unity in Sabah, regardless of colour or creed, an eye opener especially for Peninsular Malaysians. 

Hence, most analysts gave Warisan the lead and expected the party to win during the state elections. Yet, the result could not be any different, as Warisan Plus lost executive control of Sabah.

Most Peninsular Malaysians were surprised by the result.

On the surface, the popularity of his party should have won the hearts and minds of Sabahans and his multiethnic party expected to lead the state government again. But non-Sabahans are probably ignorant of the fact that in Sabah, ethnicity and immigrant issues still play a big and decisive influence in splitting the votes, particularly tapping into ethnic loyalties at the local level. 

Although Sabah is broadly a harmonious and moderate state, Shafie’s Bajau ethnicity, nonetheless, is generally perceived as an illegal immigrant or pirate (Bajau Lanun), and that association led to Warisan losing the support from the Kadazandusun Murut heartland.  

Since the Kimanis by-election, there were claims of illegal immigrants “flooding” Sabah if Sabahans voted for Warisan.

Some peninsula people might not be aware that the continuous rising number of undocumented migrant population is a major concern for Sabahans. Furthermore, Project IC, which had granted citizenship to unqualified foreigners, was an unforgivable act to Sabahans. 

Therefore, the bulk of Kadazandusun Murut constituencies in the interior were won by other local parties perceived as more “authentic Sabahans” among the communities during the polls. 

But for the purpose of extending the party to Peninsular Malaysia, the aforementioned factor should not matter or hinder the development of their plan. 

On the contrary, peninsula people may have a good impression of Shafie and that can become a positive influence or asset to his party.

What is more worrying is that Warisan might lose the confidence of Sabah voters. Let’s not forget, local identities is the major pull-factor to win voters in state polls.

Party supporters and members would also be worried that the party’s guiding principles and interest might become more federalised and voters might respond by swinging their votes towards other local parties.

Compared to peninsula voters, Sabah has a bunch of local political parties that fight for local issues and play up local sentiments. If so, Warisan might lose the support from Sabahans and hence their power base. 

Although the current plan is to set up branches in Johor and Selangor, which have more outstation Sabahans, this forms only part of the voter base and it may not affect the voting tendency of voters based in Sabah.

Back to reality, as a new party in the peninsula, it is difficult for Warisan to compete with long-established parties such as Umno, PAS and PKR. In addition, Warisan has lost its chief minister position and several seats have been taken away by the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah back in their home ground.

Hence, the effort to expand their presence in the peninsula might not work, because it could mean that they compromise their local Sabah-based support for a federal agenda.  

Friend or foe of Pakatan?

On the other hand, the current political situation remains very hard to predict. Both sides of the political divide are still looking for a winning formula to establish a convincing alliance that can gain parliamentary majority. 

Furthermore, Barisan Nasional secretary-general Annuar Musa had mooted a grand coalition with other parties to unite the ummah, which includes Warisan. 

Some political analysts deduced a Warisan expansion would provide Dr Mahathir a political platform in the event he fails to register his new party, Pejuang.

Others suspect this move is to single out current PH leader Anwar Ibrahim, especially after the latter’s failed attempt to defeat Budget 2021.

Some Warisan MPs did not even turn up for voting at several occasions during the bill’s committee stage reading in Parliament.

Furthermore, Shafie himself once said in an interview that everyone in the opposition needs to be brave enough to make changes. 

Does this “change” include forming an alliance with others, who are not from the PH coalition? If yes, this move is likely to impact PH’s future in the next general election, widely speculated to be held by next year. 

Under these circumstances, are you still excited Warisan is coming to Peninsular Malaysia? – December 28, 2020.

* Esther Sinirisan Chong is a member of Agora Society. She was born and raised in the Land Below the Wind. Her research interest lies in education and government policies, and the history and heritage of East Malaysia.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.