Warisan open to alliances for GE16 - Shafie

Warisan open to alliances for GE16 - Shafie

Jason Santos
Published: Dec 20, 2025 7:00 PM
Updated: 10:00 PM


Contrary to its emphasis on single and local-party strength in the recent Sabah election, Warisan president Shafie Apdal today said the party remains open to cooperation when it comes to the next general election due to be called by 2027.

Shafie said Warisan, the single opposition bloc with 25 seats in the Sabah assembly, had prior opportunities to align with various groups and form a state government but chose instead to hold to its principles of a local party.

“I could have worked with others or formed arrangements to take power. But we have our values.

“For Sabah, I have always said it should ideally be governed by local Sabah-based parties,” he said during a press conference after Warisan's Annual General Meeting in Kota Kinabalu.

Shafie maintained that Warisan is not opposed to collaborating with parties from Peninsular Malaysia, but believes such cooperation is best placed at the national level, rather than being used to shape Sabah’s political direction.

“In the peninsula, we are not against anyone. At the federal level, we cooperate.

“But at the state level, let us govern. We understand what Sabahans want,” he said.

He also noted that Warisan is already cooperating with the federal administration and views the importance of political stability ahead of the next general election.

“We are aligned with the federal government. We must strengthen Sabah, and at the same time ensure stability for the country.

“We do not know what the political situation will look like when the next election comes,” said Shafie, adding that national-level politics remains volatile.

In Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s recent administrative reshuffle, Shafie's brother, Yusof Apdal, also Lahad Datu MP, retained his position as deputy science, technology and innovations minister.

Shafie further cautioned that parties holding strong positions now could easily gain or lose support by the next election, depending on the shifting voters’ sentiments.

Lamag, Kinabatangan by-elections

On the Jan 24 twin by-elections for the Lamag state seat and the Kinabatangan parliamentary seat, Shafie said Warisan has yet to decide whether it will contest, adding that discussions within the party are still ongoing.

“No decision yet. We are not sure whether Umno or other parties will contest.

“We have to listen to the voters first,” he said, expressing concern over another overcrowded contest like the recent Sabah election, where up to 14 candidates contested in a single seat, namely Tulid.

The two seats fell vacant following the passing of the incumbent, former Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin, on Dec 5.

Earlier today, BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed that Umno will be fielding Bung's son, Naim Kurniawan, in Kinabatangan, while state Umno chief Jafry Arifin has been tasked to decide and announce the candidate for Lamag.

In Lamag, Warisan's candidate Saifullah Lokman polled 372 votes in a six-cornered contest and lost his deposit.

Election complaints

At the same time, Shafie also said Warisan is reviewing alleged election offences before deciding whether to file petitions in several state constituencies.

Expressing dissatisfaction with some of the election losses, he said, “We will look into it. The deadline to file a petition is Jan 29. If there is clear evidence, enforcing the law is very important.”

Shafie, however, said he remains unsure how many seats the party may challenge.

“Do not talk about integrity if there is evidence that election laws were violated.

“We will study it carefully,” he said, adding that the party’s post-mortem is still in progress.

Shafie also encouraged members of the public to come forward if they have credible information.

Warisan previously succeeded in overturning the election result for the Kimanis seat after the 2018 general election, leading to a by-election in 2020.