Sabah polls a warning sign for PH, says SUPP Kuching Youth chief

KUCHING (Dec 4): Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Kuching branch has described the outcome of the Sabah state election as a ‘harsh report card’ for Pakatan Harapan (PH) and its three-year performance in government.

Its SUPP Kuching Youth chief Nicholas Wung said Sabahan voters had delivered a ‘collective rejection in silence’ through the polls.

He noted that PH contested 20 seats in Sabah but won only one, while the Sabah Democratic Action Party (DAP) lost all eight state seats it previously held.

“The eight seats held by Sabah DAP were completely swept away by voters through a quiet vote swing, without noise or emotional confrontation.

“This silent voting wave was a political tsunami driven by Sabah Chinese localism,” he said in a statement.

Wung claimed this force would spread nationwide in the next general election, expected to be called in about two years.

“This is a warning sign,” he said.

According to him, following the defeat, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke convened an emergency four-hour central committee meeting before issuing a statement acknowledging that DAP and PH were facing a ‘serious confidence crisis’ and pledging to accelerate reforms in the next six months.

Wung questioned why DAP was only now talking about accelerating reforms when PH entered government in 2022 with promises of reform and anti-corruption.

“Are they admitting that their reforms have failed to meet expectations over the past three years?”

He also cited former Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s remarks in a podcast, where Khairy claimed DAP’s support in Sabah — previously around 80 per cent — had fallen below 30 per cent.

Khairy reportedly said support for Sabah DAP plunged from 78 per cent in 2020 to 27 per cent currently across six traditional strongholds, attributing the decline to the party’s performance during three years in power in Peninsular Malaysia, which he said saw DAP shift ‘from party of resistance into one marked by compromise’.

“After they marched into Putrajaya, they became silent and arrogant, making many former supporters feel that DAP is no longer the party it used to be,” Wung quoted him as saying.

Khairy also warned that if DAP fails to revive its original spirit, it may lose more strongholds in Peninsular Malaysia in the next general election.

Wung added that Sabah DAP had sensed the risk of defeat days before polling and made an urgent appeal to voters to ‘keep the flame alive’, but the sentiment on the ground—particularly strong anti-Peninsular party feelings — rendered the plea ineffective.

“The results show voters were not swayed by emotions but made a rational and determined choice to reject.

“This silent rejection deserves attention in Sarawak. The warning from Sabah is loud and clear,” he said.