A pact between Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) to face the upcoming state election has been officially confirmed.

This follows a high-level meeting held on 8 May 2025 between PH chairman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and BN chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. 

Both leaders reached a consensus to collaborate in Sabah, marking a significant political alignment ahead of the much-anticipated polls.

PH secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Unity Government Secretariat chief Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki announced that the two coalitions had agreed to work together, including on seat distribution and negotiations with other potential partners.

“The details of this cooperation, including seat allocations and discussions with other parties, will be finalised jointly by the Sabah leaderships of Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional,” the statement read on Friday. 

It further noted that all final decisions will rest with the top national leadership of both coalitions.

The move effectively puts down speculations of cooperation between PH and BN in Sabah under the larger framework of the federal unity government, potentially reshaping the electoral battleground in the state.

This comes after Sabah Umno chief and Sabah Barisan Nasional chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin had earlier revealed that most of the state’s Umno divisional chiefs had expressed their intent to work with Sabah PH in the forthcoming election.

However, that claim was dismissed by Sabah PH’s information chief, who clarified that no formal discussions had taken place between the two sides at that point. – May 9, 2025