He said the move by DAP and PKR to form the new opposition pact Pakatan Harapan (PH) with Amanah in 2015, and include Umno-offshoot PPBM in it in 2017, had opened the eyes of the people.
He said they were now thinking twice about voting for these parties in the 14th general election (GE14).
PR consisted of DAP, PKR and PAS, but the coalition disintegrated following an internal dispute in 2015.
DAP had then labelled the alliance as “dead”, pointing out that it could not work with PAS after the Islamic party’s congress passed a motion to cut ties with DAP.
DAP and PKR then joined forces with PAS’ splinter Amanah to form PH.
After later accepting PPBM into the fold, the coalition agreed last month to select PPBM chairman and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, 93, as its prime ministerial candidate in the event it wins GE14.
“In the 13th general election (GE13, in 2013), DAP convinced their supporters to support PAS and (PAS did) vice versa solely for political convenience, and now they have broken up,” Teo said at LDP’s Chinese New Year gathering in Likas here on Saturday.
The Sabah state special tasks minister said he received certain information from a Sabahan friend whose wife was from Peninsular Malaysia, which he took as a sign that the popularity of the former PR parties were in decline.
“The friend and his family visited his in-laws on the peninsula and it so happened that three generations of the family had all been supporting DAP over the decades,” Teo said.
“And this time around they are saying they will either not go to vote (for anyone) or if they do, they will vote for Barisan Nasional (BN).
“It shows that the staunch support for DAP, even in the peninsula, is now shaky,” he said.
He said the family’s view represented that of many voters, especially the Chinese, in the peninsula.
He said their change in attitude stemmed from their belief that DAP had lost its principles.
Teo claimed that voters in Sabah felt the same way.
He said of the 11 state seats won by PR parties in GE13, only three still belonged to either DAP or PKR as the assemblymen of the other seats had left the parties.
The three state seats are Inanam (held by PKR’s Roland Chia), Api-Api (PKR’s Christina Liew) and Sri Tanjong (DAP’s Chan Foong Hin).
‘Junz Wong betrayed voters’ mandate’
He said Likas assemblyman Junz Wong quit DAP in 2016 to join Parti Warisan Sabah although voters had given him the mandate as a DAP candidate.
“The fact that he abandoned DAP to go to another party means that he actually betrayed that mandate,” Teo said.
He also said the decision by DAP and others in PH to work with Mahathir, who ruled Malaysia and served as Umno president from 1981 to 2003, had further eroded their reputation.
“They are now working with Mahathir, someone whom they criticised and disapproved of previously,” he said.
“Because of that, a sizeable number of those who used to be Pakatan supporters are already thinking twice about whether they should support the coalition or abstain from voting, or support BN.
“Therefore voters, come GE14, must have the wisdom to see which candidates or parties have principles,” he said.