1981 Sabah state election

← 1976

23–28 March 1981

1985 →

All 48 seats in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly
25 seats needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party	Third party

Leader	Harris Salleh	Said Keruak	Steven Chan Tze Hiang^[1]
Party	BERJAYA	USNO	SCCP
Alliance	Barisan Nasional (federal)	Barisan Nasional (federal) Barisan Sabah (state)	Barisan Sabah (state)
Leader since	1976	1961
Leader's seat	Tenom	Usukan	Bandar Tawau
Last election	28 seats	20 seats	–
Seats won	44	3	1
Seat change	16	17	New

Chief Minister before election

Harris Salleh
Barisan Nasional, (BERJAYA)

Elected Chief Minister

Harris Salleh
Barisan Nasional, (BERJAYA)

The 1981 Sabah state election was held between Monday, 23 March and Saturday, 28 March 1981. This was the fourth state election to take place. The Sabah State Legislative Assembly was dissolved on 21 February 1981, 2 months earlier than the expiry of the Assembly term on 26 April 1981. Candidates nomination took place on 7 March 1981.^[2]^[3]

In the election, BERJAYA Party led by Harris Salleh, an ally of federal government party Barisan Nasional (BN), won the election with a supermajority of 44 seats out of 48, and thus continued its governance of the state won since the last election on 1976.^[4] USNO, another component party of BN but opposition to BERJAYA on state level, created a coalition, Barisan Sabah, with PASOK and SCCP to fight BERJAYA.^[1] However the result were disastrous to the new coalition as they only won 4 seats; USNO reduced from 20 to 3 seats, SCCP winning one seat and PASOK none.^[4]

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Results


Party		Seats	+/–
	Sabah People's United Front	44	+16
	United Sabah National Organisation	3	–17
	Sabah Chinese Consolidated Party	1	New
	United Pasok Nunukragang National Organisation	0	New
	Parti Perhimpunan Sosial Bersatu	0	New
	Democratic Action Party	0	New
	United Sabah People's Organisation	0	New
	SEDAR	0	New
	Independents	0	0
Total		48	0

Source: HLSC

Aftermath

After USNO and Barisan Sabah's comprehensive defeat in the election, Said Keruak stepped down as USNO leader,^[5] replaced by Mustapha Harun, the former USNO leader and former Chief Minister.^[6] USNO would later expelled from BN in 1984, due to Mustapha's action against BN, one of which opposing the move to make Labuan a Federal Territory.^[7]

Internal clashes within BERJAYA led to Joseph Pairin Kitingan, the party's vice-president, exiting BERJAYA with several of the party assemblymen and formed Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS).^[8] Pairin also won a December 1984 by-election, as an independent, in the Tambunan seat he had to vacate due to his resignation from BERJAYA and Sabah Assembly.^[9] These events led to Harris calling a snap election in March 1985, with the election held on 20–21 April 1985. PBS succeeded in toppling the BERJAYA government, winning 25 seats and setting in motion the 1985-1986 constitutional crisis in Sabah.

References

^ ^a ^b "Tunku: Do not spoilt votes". 11 March 1981. p. 11. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
^ Laporan Pilihan Raya Umum Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah, Tahun 1981, Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya
^ "Who's where for the five-day polls". 8 March 1981. p. 9. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
^ ^a ^b "It's a knock-out by Berjaya". 29 March 1981. p. 1. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
^ "Usno chief to step down". The Straits Times. eresources.nlb.gov.sg. New Straits Times. 11 April 1981. p. 17. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
^ Datuk Teddy Chin (3 July 2022). "The rise, fall and rise again of Usno". www.dailyexpress.com.my. Daily Express (Malaysia). Retrieved 1 January 2023.
^ Bernama (16 April 1984). "Usno expelled from National Front". The Straits Times. eresources.nlb.gov.sg. p. 16. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
^ Arnold Puyok (February 2011). "Political Development in Sabah, 1985-2010. Challenges in Malaysian Federalism and Ethnic Politics" (Discussion paper). irasec.com. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
^ "Kitingan beats Berjaya man in Tambunan by-election". 31 December 1984. p. 1. Retrieved 5 January 2023.

v t e State elections in Malaysia
Overall results	1983 1985 1986 1987 1990 1991 1994 1995 1996 1999 2001 2004 2006 2008 2011 2013 2016 2018 2020 2021 2022 2023
Johor	1954 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2022
Kedah	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2023
Kelantan	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2023
Malacca	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2021
Negeri Sembilan	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2023
Pahang	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2022
Penang	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2023
Perak	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2022
Perlis	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2022
Sabah	1964 (indirect) 1967 1971 1976 1981 1985 1986 1990 1994 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2020
Sarawak	1959 (indirect) 1963 (indirect) 1969 1974 1979 1983 1987 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021
Selangor	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2023
Terengganu	1954 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2023
Singapore	1963

v t e Elections in Malaysia
Federal	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2022 Next
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Local	1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965
See also: Federal by-elections State by-elections Elections in Johor Kedah Kelantan Kuala Lumpur Labuan Malacca Negeri Sembilan Pahang Penang Perak Perlis Putrajaya Sabah Sarawak Selangor Terengganu

This page was last edited on 29 February 2024, at 16:16