WARISAN president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, who is defending his Senallang state assembly seat, cast his vote at Sekolah Kebangsaan Bubul this morning, signalling the start of his party’s campaign in the 17th Sabah state election.
Arriving at 8.47am, Shafie, who also serves as Semporna’s Member of Parliament, voted in Saluran 1. He faces a four-cornered contest against Mohd Lipai @ Samsu Sundalu of Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PIS), Marunda K.k Ampong from Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), and Abdul Majid Angkulan of Bersama.
In the previous election, Shafie secured 6,363 votes with a 4,631-vote majority, following a successful first term in which he captured 7,754 votes and a 5,301-vote margin.
According to the Election Commission, Senallang has 20,763 registered voters, including 5,007 young electors aged 21 to 29 and 1,703 first-time voters aged 18 to 20.
The two other state seats under the Semporna parliamentary constituency, Sulabayan and Bugaya, have 20,258 and 36,569 registered voters respectively.
Speaking at a meet-the-people event in Kampung Imam Laggu near Semporna earlier, Shafie dismissed rumours of electoral alliances, affirming that Warisan will contest all 73 state constituencies independently.
“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.
Shafie expressed concern over the fragmentation of Sabah politics, describing it as the state’s most divisive force.
“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 bloc alone comprises five parties—PBRS, UPKO, KDM, PBS and STAR—while other local and peninsula-based parties continue to enter the Sabah political arena.
“Even people from the peninsula are coming in,” he added, warning that such splintering risks diluting Sabah’s collective voice at the national level.
Reflecting on Warisan’s past collaborations, Shafie recalled the party’s support for leaders across the political spectrum, including Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
In the 2020 Sabah election, Warisan won 23 of the 73 state seats, though 11 of its elected assemblymen later defected to join the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah coalition - November 29, 2025
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