Kota Kinabalu, Thursday, 16 October 2025
The long period of 39 days from the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly to nomination day is unprecedented in Sabah’s political history ever since the maximum period from dissolution to polling was reduced from 90 days to 60 days in the 1980s. The period from dissolution to polling is 53 days, stretching almost to the maximum 60 days allowed in the Sabah constitution.
I can only assume that the top brass of Malaya parties, mainly PKR, desperately need more time to sort out their internal problems and their rebellions at divisions over candidacy disputes. It is also possible that federal leaders, including the Prime Minister, want to have more time to prepare for the Sabah elections until AFTER the ASEAN SUMMIT in KL that is due on October 26 & 27.
With the Sabah government now being merely a caretaker government and the private sector putting itself “on hold” until the elections are over, this two-month wait will dampen economic activities. This has a negative effect on Sabah’s economy. In other words, it seems that Sabah’s interests have again been compromised.
More time for PKR and DAP to knock themselves out
For those parties with huge internal problems, especially PH-PKR and DAP, the extra time between now and elections might well turn out to be a golden opportunity for the various factions and warlords to knock each other out, dragging down GRS along with it.
As for local parties that are more compact, better organised and disciplined, the extra time can be used to fine tune the machinery to achieve stronger unity of Sabah local parties.
SAPP will utilise long campaign period to reach the people directly
SAPP will use the long period between now and election to overcome the hurdles that SAPP and local parties have been facing, such as inaccessibility to mainstream media, lack of financial resources, and lack of logistical support. SAPP and local parties like STAR will have to rely mainly on local people’s support.
As the mainstream media is controlled by the Federal government, and social media is overwhelmed by the numerically dominant Malaya cybertroopers, SAPP will have to rely on local networking, local knowledge and meeting local people directly with a personal touch. It is the personal touch with eye-to-eye contact that can connect people and show sincerity in our struggle. Federal Ministers flying in and out of Sabah with their local proxies are likely to be received as merely tourists on a vote fishing trip.
Datuk Yong Teck Lee
President, SAPP