Sabah election tomorrow

Murray Hunter


Sabah election tomorrow


Nov 28, 2025







Sabah’s 1.78 million voters will choose the next state government at the ballot box tomorrow. This election is a choice between Sabah heading along the road to more autonomy, like Sarawak, or remaining governed by parties complicit with Putra Jaya. This choice won’t be clear as there are 596 candidates in multi-candidate competitions in 73 seats across the state. This dynamic could lead to long delays in vote tallying tomorrow night and even a hung-parliament between the incumbent Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Warisan.

In one context the election is a straight fight between caretaker chief minister Hajiji Noor of GRS and Warisan’s Shafie Apdal. However, there many local iconic politicians and candidates standing with strong local followings. Warisan is expected to do well in the urban areas and east coast, while a large number of splintered Kadazan parties should do well within the interior of Sabah. They dynamics of large number of candidates competing for single seats under the First-Past-The-Post system is not easy to predict.

Ten percent of voters are new and Warisan has been campaigning hard towards this cohort. The minor parties have been disadvantaged with very limited media coverage. The election will be a test for UMNO fielding an array of new faces to the electorate. The DAP and PKR may find tomorrow difficult with the 40 percent revenue issue an important issue to many Sabahans. Warisan will be highly competitive in the seats DAP and PKR have chosen to contest. Over the last few days prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has been tirelessly canvassing the hustings.

The Albert Tei corruption issue hasn’t gained much traction in Sabah. The major issues are lack of development in Sabah, the cost of living and lack of economic opportunities. This may favour some of the Kadazan parties internally. For Perikatan Nasional (PN) this election is a test of the viability of the coalition nationally. PN could become a spoiler for some UMNO candidates. A poor performance by PKR in Sabah may require a party rethink. DAP may be able to hold onto the 4 seats it has.

Warisan would be expected to push more for Sabah autonomy, but would have to win a clear simple majority to govern. The current personality dynamics between Shapie Apdal and the governor Musa Aman may be a factor.

If a hung parliament emerges from voting tomorrow, who governs could go anyway. This would favour GRS. Its very likely independents, STAR, UPKO, UMNO, and DAP could play a role after the election as king makers in a new coalition.