Good-byes, photographs fuel speculation of Sabah assembly dissolution

GOOD-byes and photographs by Sabah ministers after Wednesday's cabinet meeting added more fuel to speculations that the state assembly is set to be dissolved soon, even as early as Monday.

However, insiders revealed that the recent exit of Sabah STAR and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) from the ruling Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition may delay the dissolution of the assembly.

Reports stated that Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor  had already sought the consent of Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Musa Aman at the Seri Kinabalu Palace to dissolve the assembly and make way for the 17th state election.

Earlier, Speaker Datuk Seri Kadzim M. Yahya said the 16th Sabah legislative assembly will be automatically dissolved on Nov 11.

Yesterday, in a statement, the Sabah Media and Communications Office of the CM's Department said the official announcement will be made by Hajiji.

“In light of numerous enquiries from the media regarding the date of the dissolution of the Sabah State Assembly, we are pleased to inform you that the invitation for the press conference concerning the dissolution of the Sabah DUN by YAB Chief Minister will be communicated through a Note to Editor (NTE) when the time is right.

“We greatly appreciate your cooperation,” the statement read.

Over 600,000 new voters

Meanwhile, about 662,000 new voters are eligible to fulfil their responsibilities in the upcoming Sabah polls, bringing the total number of voters to 1.786 million.

The number of voters involved is based on the electoral roll as of August 2025, which was gazetted by the Election Commission (EC) on September 24.

 The total number of voters in the 16th Sabah PRN in 2020 was 1.124 million people.

Of the 1.786 million voters in Sabah, approximately 1.7 million are ordinary voters, while 11,000 are military personnel and their spouses and 12,730 police personnel and their spouses, including the General Operations Force.

EC Chairman, Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun told Berita Harian that the increase in the number of voters (ahead of the PRN) is due to the implementation of automatic registration and Vote 18.

"If broken down, there are 131,099 voters under 20 years old," he said.

The expenditure for the Sabah PRN this time is estimated at around RM130 million, including logistics costs, staff allowances and other costs, following the increase in the number of voters and the challenges that need to be faced in the state.

He said that geographical factors also pose a major challenge to the EC because some areas in Sabah are still difficult to access.

"There are locations that require staff to move earlier and polling centres to close earlier to ensure that election documents can be taken to the vote counting centre," he said, adding that more than 30,000 staff are needed, including security forces.

He stressed that logistical challenges, natural disasters or delays in returning ballot papers remain the EC's priority to address, given that Sabah has 73 state assembly seats. - October 4, 2025