WARISAN will field candidates in all 73 constituencies in the upcoming Sabah election, said its president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
The Senallang assemblyman said the party has already lined up candidates to contest independently, dismissing rumours it would form electoral pacts with other political groups in the state election.
“There are many rumours. There was a rumour we worked with UMNO, and now there’s a rumour we’re working with Perikatan Nasional.
“I’ve made it clear – we are only working with the people of Sabah. For that I would like to announce that we will contest in all 73 seats… all the seats,” he said in meet-the-people event held in Kampung Imam Laggu near Semporna on Friday.
Shafie noted that politics had become the most divisive force in Sabah, with a proliferation of parties fragmenting the electorate.
“...I’m worried about the political divide. It’s the biggest divide of all. In Sabah, there are so many parties. I’ve never seen politics as fragmented as this, not in the US, UK, or even Japan,” he said.
He noted that the Kadazandusun-Murut (KDM) bloc alone counts five parties – PBRS, UPKO, KDM, PBS and STAR, while other local groups and peninsula-based parties continue to enter Sabah to contest in the local election.
“Even people from the peninsula are coming in,” he said.
He warned that such political splintering risked weakening Sabah’s collective voice at the national level.
Shafie also alluded to past political collaborations, recalling that Warisan had supported leaders across the spectrum, including Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Warisan secured 23 of the 73 state seats in the 2020 Sabah election, but in the aftermath, 11 of its elected assemblymen defected, later aligning with the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition. - Aug 2, 2025
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