Political researcher Arnold Puyok said the use of Muhyiddin’s image as GRS’s key figure was a good strategy, while political scientist Awang Azman Pawi said near-daily clips on television, of Muhyiddin reciting prayers had drawn the attention of Muslim-Bumiputera voters.
Puyok said his research group Society Empowerment and Economic Development of Sabah had conducted two surveys which showed that Muhyiddin was well-liked not only by GRS supportes but also among those aligned to local-based parties as well as Warisan Plus, GRS’ main rival.
“The studies presented clear public dissatisfaction towards Warisan in terms of its governance and economic management, which was enough for voters to vote against Warisan and its allies,” he said.
Puyok said voters had noted Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) experience in managing the country through the difficult time of the Covid-19 pandemic. They also realised that Sabah needed to be aligned to the federal government for future development.
This factor significantly contributed to the swing of support from Warisan Plus to GRS, he said.
Video clips of Muhyiddin reciting prayers
Awang Azman, who is with Universiti Malaya, said the video clips of Muhyiddin reciting prayers had drawn the attention of Muslim-Bumiputera voters. “Besides that, Putrajaya’s policies were broadcast often, which was seen as sensitive towards the people’s needs,” he said.
“The federal government’s decision to introduce a six-month loan moratorium also had a significant impact on Sabahans, particularly the B40 group. What the state government had to offer paled in comparison.”
Warisan Plus, comprising Warisan, DAP, PKR and Upko, won 32 seats at the tightly-contested Sabah state assembly elections yesterday, but lost its majority in the house.
GRS, comprising PN, Barisan Nasional and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), won 38 seats and has claimed the right to form a new state government.
Three independents were also elected, with one declaring support for PN.
Awang Azman was not surprised the election was a close affair, saying both had their own strengths. “I’ve said before that the difference between the two would only be between five and 10 seats. This also reflects the situation in Putrajaya where the margin is also slim.”
He said Warisan had won the social media campaign but limited internet connectivity meant penetration to the grassroots was hampered.
“Fear of the Covid-19 pandemic also impeded Warisan’s momentum as voter turnout was only 66%,” he said.
Warisan’s ‘Unity’ message didn’t work
Puyok, on the other hand, said Warisan’s message of “Unity” was well-received far and wide, but did not work in its favour as unity was not a key issue for Sabahans as much as it was in the peninsula.
“It was not enough to sway the voters, who clearly wanted a government with a focus on rebuilding the economy and with special plans to protect people from economic hardship,” he said.
KDM communities the king-makers
Sabah UiTM senior lecturer Tony Paridi Bagang noted that GRS had performed very well in the Kadazan-Dusun-Murut (KDM) majority areas. “It indicates that Warisan Plus failed to win the hearts and minds of the community.”
KDM community attention was on issues such as development, the presence of undocumented migrants, maintaining good federal relations and managing the economy, he said.
Warisan’s defeat was also caused by the failure of its allies, PKR and Upko, in 12 KDM seats. PKR won in two out of seven seats while Upko only won one seat.
Awang Azman said Warisan could have clinched a simple majority if it had managed to take even half of the combined 13 KDM seats contested and won by STAR and PBS.
“It’s just that voters realised that without Putrajaya or being aligned to the federal government, development projects for the KDM community would be difficult to obtain or implement as a whole,” he said.
For instance, the community would have cast an envious eye on Sarawak, which is aligned to PN, which received almost RM3 billion in sales tax for petroleum products payment recently whereas Sabah has yet to receive any such dues.