By Alan Ting

KOTA KINABALU, Sabah: Mohd Shafie Apdal’s recent assertion that Pakatan Harapan (PH) has spent RM 8 million to attack Parti Warisan feels less like an exposé and more like a defensive manoeuvre ahead of a difficult election. 

The allegation reads as an attempt to generate sympathy and deflect from the structural weaknesses confronting his party, weaknesses shaped largely by voter frustration over governance, corruption controversies, and the legacy of the 2020 pandemic snap election. 

These are factors that no amount of political theatre can conceal.

Sabahans have long memories, and many still hold Shafie responsible for calling the 2020 state election during the height of the COVID-19 crisis. The decision triggered a widespread outbreak, overwhelmed the state health system, and inflicted deep social and economic damage. 

Although Shafie has repeatedly defended the move, voters remember the chaos vividly. The political calculation behind that decision has never been forgiven, and its consequences still define public sentiment today.

Corruption remains another major fault line. Over the years, allegations involving misappropriated funds, water infrastructure projects, and the broader pattern of graft within state-linked agencies have cast a long shadow over Shafie’s leadership. 

Even where Shafie denied involvement or avoided formal charges, the perception of impropriety endured. Sabahans are accustomed to political scandals but they are no longer willing to tolerate them. 

Economic pressures, stagnant wages, and deteriorating public services have made voters more sensitive to corruption than ever before.

This election is also coloured by Warisan’s internal retreat. The decision by the party’s deputy president, Darell Leiking, not to contest despite being one of the party’s strongest names has been widely interpreted as a tacit acknowledgement of collapse while Rajiv Bhanot, the party’s chief coordinator for peninsular Malaysia and a controversial figure with alleged ties to criminal networks and money laundering particularly over the infamous "Yellow Water Tank" scandal is nowhere to be found.

When senior leaders distance themselves from electoral risk, it sends a blunt message to the ground: the party lacks both confidence and cohesion. Warisan appears to be approaching the polls not as a contender, but as a party bracing for impact.

What Sabah Voters Actually Want

The more serious truth beneath Shafie’s public complaints is that Sabahans themselves have shifted. Their political expectations have matured, and their patience with symbolic politics has worn thin. The state’s voters are among the most pragmatic in the country. 

They are not fixated on ideological narratives but on tangible improvements to their lives including jobs, water supply, infrastructure, cost of living, and credible leadership.

For years, Sabahans have endured unreliable water systems, inconsistent electricity supply, poor roads, slow broadband, and the persistent perception that development funds disappear before reaching the ground. 

Communities in the interior want reliable basic services; coastal communities want stronger economic protections; urban voters want good governance and accountability. Across the board, there is exhaustion with corruption and power struggles, irrespective of which party is involved.

There is also a growing expectation of political stability. Sabah’s history of shifting alliances, frequent party-hopping, and sudden leadership changes has produced widespread voter fatigue. People want leaders who can complete a term, deliver results, and resist the temptation to use the state as a bargaining chip in federal politics.

Warisan, once seen as a vehicle for Sabah-first pride and autonomy, no longer convincingly represents these aspirations. Disillusioned voters feel the party has drifted, losing focus on bread-and-butter issues while becoming entangled in internal disputes and national political manoeuvring.

The electorate’s mood is not simply anti-Warisan it is pro-accountability. Sabahans want a political leadership that treats governance as a responsibility rather than a performance, and they want parties that can bring stability rather than uncertainty.

A Reckoning, Not a Conspiracy

In this context, Shafie’s narrative about being targeted by a multimillion-ringgit campaign rings hollow. Sabahans know their own reasons for voting the way they do, and those reasons have more to do with lived experience than with online attacks. 

Economic hardship, service delivery failures, and unresolved corruption narratives carry more weight than any claim of political sabotage.

If Warisan faces a wipeout, it will not be because of hostile funding or coordinated social-media campaigns. It will be because the party has failed to meet the expectations of Sabah’s increasingly demanding electorate. 

Voters want functional water systems, honest leadership, competent governance, and a sense that their future is being taken seriously.

That is not something that can be manufactured through political messaging. It must be earned.

The coming election will test whether Warisan can read the mood of Sabahans or whether it remains trapped in its own defensive narrative. Either way, voters are ready to deliver their verdict — and it is their expectations, not Shafie’s accusations, that will shape the outcome.

*Alan Ting is an observer of regional affairs and global geopolitics based in the Land Below the Wind.*