Loner to contender: the man who could pull a surprise in Sabah and upend Malaysian politics

Fired by the prime minister after criticising him for the 1MDB financial scandal, the former Umno vice-president is within electoral striking distance in a state long considered a lock for the ruling party

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Shafie Apdal at an election rally in Penampang, Sabah. Photo: SCMP Photos

Published: 12:00pm, 8 May 2018Updated: 5:48pm, 9 May 2018

Shafie Apdal’s political rivals – ex-colleagues in Malaysia’s ruling coalition – may not have foreseen that he would become a major thorn in their side when they wrote him off as a “loner” following his acrimonious sacking as a minister in 2015 by Prime Minister Najib Razak.

With less than 24 hours to go before Wednesday’s general election, the high-profile defector’s late push to take provincial power in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s bastion of Sabah, in the island of Borneo, has turned a sideshow into a battle to watch alongside the main duel between Najib and opposition chief Mahathir Mohamad.

In a place best known for being home to top diving sites and some of the world’s oldest rainforests, the call of “Sabah, Kita Punya” or “Sabah is ours” is resonating and the man making it heard loud and clear is Shafie, an indigenous native of the state.

Few took notice when Shafie formed the breakaway Parti Warisan Sabah (Sabah Heritage Party) in 2016 after being fired by Najib for publicly criticising the premier on the 1MDB financial scandal that has dogged him. The BN secretary general Tengku Adnan Mansor, a top Najib lieutenant, in an interview last year dismissed Shafie as a “non-threat because he is a loner”.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak listens to his supporters during a campaign event in Pekan, Pahang. Photo: AFP

Now, with images circulating that show thousands thronging to Warisan rallies across the state, Adnan, his boss Najib and others in BN appear to be taking notice.

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