The Sabah Progressive Party ( ms, Parti Maju Sabah, abbreviated SAPP) is a multiracial

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

based in

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. It was registered on 21 January 1994 by dissidents led by former Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee from

United Sabah Party The United Sabah Party ( ms, Parti Bersatu Sabah, abbreviated PBS) is a political party of Sabah. The PBS was founded by Joseph Pairin Kitingan in 1985 and it is Sabah's oldest local party. In August 2020, PBS confirmed that they would be usin ...

. Formerly a component party in the ruling

Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 ...

coalition, SAPP officially withdrew from BN in September 2008 to become independent. As of 2010, SAPP has two representatives in the national legislature and two in the Sabah State Assembly. In 2016, the party together with

Homeland Solidarity Party Homeland Solidarity Party (STAR; ms, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku ) is a Sabah-based political party. The party was founded on 1 July 2016 by Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Jeffrey G. Kitingan. He is Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan's younger brothe ...

formed the United Sabah Alliance. It later joined the United Alliance together with STAR and PBS in 2018. The SAPP became the main component party of the GRS coalition, the successor of United Alliance that was established in 2020 and registered in 2022.

History

Withdrawal from Barisan Nasional

The SAPP won two parliamentary seats in the general election held on 8 March 2008. After the 2008 election, there were calls by many Sabahan political parties for more autonomy from the Malaysian federal government. SAPP President Yong Teck Lee announced on 18 June 2008 that the party would file a " no-confidence motion" in the '' Dewan Rakyat'' on 23 June against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, calling on him to step down. The party, criticising what it described as insensitivity on the part of the government towards issues in

, said that it was taking advantage of a unique "window of opportunity" for the sake of Sabah interests, including autonomy, return of

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan), is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capita ...

and 20% of oil revenues. The majority of the Sabah population are generally content with the SAPP no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Abdullah who has been accused a number of wrongdoings including corruption and abuse of power. In retaliation for calling for a vote of no-confidence against Abdullah, the BN supreme council issued a show-cause letter to SAPP. A 30-day period was to give SAPP a chance to reply and defend itself before BN took any action against them. On 17 September 2008, SAPP quit Barisan Nasional. Nevertheless, the decision came at a price as the party's deputy president, one of its vice-presidents, and its youth chief (who chose to remain within BN) all opposed the move and withdrew from the party. Some 2,000 members of the party similarly disagreed from the move and left the party, showing support for these dissident leaders.

Forming the United Sabah Alliance

In 2016, the party formed a part of the United Sabah Alliance (USA).

Representatives

Dewan Undangan Negeri (State Legislative Assembly)

Malaysian State Assembly Representatives

Sabah State Legislative Assembly The Sabah State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah, Kadazandusun: ''Langga' Tinukuan Pogun Sabah'') is a part of the legislature of Sabah, Malaysia, the other being the governor of Sabah. The assembly meets at the Sabah Sta ...

General election results

State election results

References

External links

* {{Authority control Political parties in Sabah 1994 establishments in Malaysia Political parties established in 1994