Bilcher Bala of Universiti Malaysia Sabah questioned why Mustapha was not nominated when the matter was put to an internal vote. Bilcher said the nomination of Liew over Mustapha could undermine the internal leadership and alienate Mustapha’s supporters.

Liew was narrowly defeated by Upko president Ewon Benedick for the post she had held since 2017.

Bilcher said the preference for Liew gave the impression that Sabah PKR does not respect its own leadership changes. “This dissatisfaction could lead to internal strife, eroding confidence in PH’s ability to govern effectively with state assembly elections looming,” he told FMT.

Mustapha, the federal deputy higher education minister, was appointed as the new Sabah PKR chief in May. He replaced Sangkar Rasam, who had been urged to step down by 15 of 26 PKR division chiefs, including Liew.

Liew faced a similar predicament in December 2021 when 17 division heads called for her removal as Sabah PKR chief, citing the party’s declining influence in the state.

Loss of confidence

Ilham Centre’s Hisomuddin Bakar said Liew’s loss to Ewon reflected a loss of confidence in Liew among PH partners and their rejection of her leadership.

He said Ewon’s election showed that Upko and DAP were not in favour of Liew, while Amanah and PKR appeared split. Liew had failed to consolidate Sabah PH and unite the coalition, particularly during the 2020 state elections, he said.

“Her leadership is obsolete,” he said, urging her to step away from the struggle for the Sabah PH chairmanship. Liew has said discussions were being held with PKR’s national and state leaders on her possible return to the post.

Hisomuddin said “what the coalition really needs is a new formula to challenge the domination of the ‘Sabah for Sabahans’ slogan in the coming elections”, no matter who was chosen to head Sabah PH.