BARISAN Nasional's (BN) manifesto for the 17th Sabah State Election (PRN), which will be launched today with the approach "Bikin Balik Sabah" (Rebuild Sabah), will focus specifically on solving three main issues in the state: clean water supply, electricity supply, and road access, said BN Chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the detailed manifesto, to be announced by Sabah BN Chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, will also emphasise issues such as unemployment, investment, youth housing, and the state's economic development.
"About 17 per cent of the youth, totalling 165,000, are unemployed, so the manifesto mentions methods to reduce unemployment in Sabah because one in five unemployed persons in the country is in Sabah," he said as reported by Bernama.
He said this after officiating the Sentuhan Kasih Desa@Papar program and the Majlis Khatam Perdana last night. Also present was the Director-General of the Community Development Department (Kemas) Datuk Mohd Hanafiah Man.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Minister of Rural and Regional Development, said the solution to the unemployment issue will be driven by creating a new education ecosystem based on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
"God willing, TVET education will be emphasised in Sabah, and we want Sabah's children to work in Sabah, and we will create industries through investments that will be brought into Sabah," he said.
He said that over 300,000 Sabah residents are currently in Pasir Gudang, while more than 250,000 are working in the Klang Valley, and this workforce has great potential to help develop the state if job opportunities are created in Sabah.
Elaborating on the manifesto announcement strategy, Ahmad Zahid said although the document was ready before nomination day, its launch was scheduled after the first week of campaigning to ensure wider coverage as it is highly anticipated.
"The timing is very good because tomorrow (Saturday) will give (us) coverage from the printed media, and the weekend's 'prime news' is also better. We chose this in terms of media strategy," he said.
In this PRN, BN is fielding candidates in 45 out of 73 State Legislative Assembly (DUN) seats, including two seats within the Papar Parliament: Kawang, which will be contested by Datuk Jamal Nerubi, and Pantai Manis, where Redzuan Ismail is the candidate.
The Election Commission (SPR) has set Nov 25 for early voting and Nov 29 as polling day. – November 22, 2025
