Wearing a white-collared shirt, Shafie, who retained his Senallang state seat, spoke briefly to reporters who had gathered outside the Yayasan Sabah House in Likas here since this morning.

“Thank you for your support, thank you,” he said, as he placed his hand on his chest.

The Semporna MP declined to comment when asked for his reaction over Gabungan Rakyat Sabah announcing Sabah Perikatan Nasional chief Hajiji Noor as its chief minister candidate, again repeating “thank you, thank you”.

He also replied similarly when asked if he was going to the state palace to meet the Sabah governor.

Asked about Warisan’s plans now with its narrow defeat to GRS in the election, he said: “We will serve the people.”

Shafie spent about a minute standing at his doorstep, smiling and expressing his gratitude. He waved to the media and supporters gathered outside before disappearing into the house as the doors closed.

GRS earlier today named Hajiji as their chief minister candidate and is, for now, scheduled to be sworn in tomorrow morning.

The loose coalition, comprising PN, Barisan Nasional and PBS, had won 38 of the 73 state seats contested in the election to clinch a simple majority to form the state government.

Out of the 38 seats, PN had won 17 seats, followed by BN with 14 seats and PBS seven.

Warisan Plus, consisting of Warisan, DAP, PKR and Upko, won 32 seats.