KUALA LUMPUR — The dramatic swing of Chinese voters away from Pakatan Harapan (PH) in Sabah’s recent state polls could be the beginning of a wider political backlash that may surface in Peninsular Malaysia, Ilham Centre CEO Hisommudin Bakar has warned.
He said that Chinese voters in Sabah displayed an unusually strong protest vote, shifting from traditional support for DAP to backing Warisan instead — a move driven largely by economic frustrations and policy fatigue.
Hisommudin described the trend as a “storm forming over the horizon,” predicting that within the next 12 to 18 months, Peninsular constituencies with significant Chinese electorates may see similar reactions if PH fails to address economic concerns like the minimum wage burden, SST expansion and targeted RON95 subsidies.
He added that while Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim enjoys respectable popularity, this did not translate into votes in Sabah, where voters prioritised local candidate performance and service delivery over federal leadership.
The result, he said, served as a message to the federal government that Sabah voters want stronger representation of state interests — especially given Sabah’s 25 parliamentary seats that could play a pivotal kingmaker role in the next general election.