Lee Kuok Tiung of Universiti Malaysia Sabah said this change of mindset could be seen in the performance of Parti Warisan Sabah, which won more than half of the seats it vied for.
The preference for multiracial parties could be seen in the failure of race-based parties to win votes, he added.
“For example,” he said, “Parti Cinta Sabah and Parti Kerjasama Anak Negeri suffered heavy defeats. The Gabungan Sabah alliance won only two state seats and one federal seat through its strongest party, the Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR). The only local Chinese party, Liberal Democratic Party, lost all its seats.”
In the state election, Sabah Barisan Nasional won 29 seats, equal to the number won by the alliance of Warisan and Pakatan Harapan. STAR won two seats, and it decided to side with BN to give it a simple majority.
However, BN eventually lost the majority due to defections to the other side after a short period of power wrangling between former chief minister Musa Aman and Warisan chief Shafie Apdal.
Lee noted that some pundits had speculated that Warisan might one day turn out to be another version of Umno. “There is indeed a tendency towards that,” he said.
Nevertheless, he added, people should give Shafie and his ministers the chance to prove their worth.
He noted that the state government had set up four new ministries – trade and industry, health and wellbeing, education and innovation, and law and native affairs – and said he believed they were but a rebranding of previous ministries. “But it will be interesting to see what new roles they will play,” he added.
He said the people of Sabah were hoping that the new government would bring “real change” to the way the state was administered.