Malaysia’s Anwar faces a tough fight as bellwether state Sabah closes ranks

Malaysia’s election season kicks into full gear this weekend, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration forced to juggle national interests and aspirations of autonomy in make-or-break state Sabah as sentiments of “Sabah for Sabahans” quickly gain ground.

The November 29 election in Sabah, one of two states on Malaysian Borneo, is widely seen as a gauge of Anwar’s popularity beyond his strongholds in the peninsula and a potential indicator of how well he could do in his presumed re-election bid in the next national polls that must be held by early 2028 at the latest.

Nomination day is scheduled for Saturday, when hundreds of prospective candidates are expected to hand in their papers for a shot at winning one of the 73 state seats up for grabs.

But the fight for the hearts and minds of the nearly 1.8 million voters is already well under way, as local parties distance themselves from their larger national peers in a bid to ride on surging pushback against federal control.

The latest issue driving voters’ ire against the federal government was a proposal by the attorney general to appeal against last month’s high court ruling confirming Sabah’s constitutional right to 40 per cent of federal revenue collected from the state.

The revenue share is separate from the federal government’s responsibility to fund development work in the state, according to the court.