Shafie Apdal

Unity Government and Reform · Treatise · 4 min read

Why Does East Malaysian Politics Matter? Taib, Shafie, and Sabah-Sarawak State Rights

One held Sarawak for thirty-three years; one briefly governed Sabah after leaving UMNO; East Malaysia is not an appendix to Peninsular coalition arithmetic

Peninsular politics often writes East Malaysia as coalition numbers: how many seats for GPS, how many for GRS, whether Sabah and Sarawak can complete a majority. But East Malaysia has its own strongman politics, state-rights demands, local anti-centre stories, MA63, petroleum revenue, and native land questions. Taib Mahmud and Shafie Apdal stand on two different East Malaysian political routes.