Anwar said his government respected the “firm and clear” message that Sabahans sent at the polls yesterday, as federal coalitions like Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional suffered heavy defeats.

“The Madani government fully respects the message delivered by voters in Sabah, that they demand for tangible change after a prolonged period of injustice and neglect by nearly all political parties, whether from the peninsula or even in Sabah,” he said in a Facebook post.

Anwar said his government has been working to resolve issues it had “inherited” from previous administrations in the past three years, including demands involving Sabah’s interests and rights.

The PKR president maintained that since then, the federal administration has made significant progress related to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

“Therefore, the Madani government will continue being consistent in this path of renewal and in our efforts to create a fair, equal and prosperous Sabah that is no longer marginalised,” he said, while congratulating Hajiji Noor on obtaining a second term as the chief minister.

PH won just one of the 22 seats it contested in the state election, while only six of BN’s 45 candidates were elected.

DAP was wiped out at the polls, making it the first time that the party will not have a representative in the Sabah assembly, while PKR lost two traditional seats – Api-Api and Inanam.

PKR’s sole assemblyman, Jamawi Jaafar, was previously from Hajiji’s Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah.