KOTA KINABALU: The Chief of the Youth Wing of Barisan Nasional (BN) Sabah, Sufian Abdul Karim, has dismissed the preliminary findings of Ilham Centre regarding the 17th Sabah State Election (PRN) as merely “academic on paper” and not representative of the actual support of the people in the state.
He said that the people of Sabah are increasingly fed up with the administration of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), which is alleged to be tainted with corruption scandals, cronyism, and policy failures.
He remarked that while studies can create graphs and theories, they cannot obscure the government’s tangible failures, which are more focused on maintaining their positions rather than the welfare of the citizens.
“If GRS is considered strong solely based on the candidates’ personalities, that is a very shallow interpretation.
“If personality were truly sufficient, Sabah would undoubtedly be thriving today. The reality is that the people are facing pressing living costs, a sluggish economy, and an administration fraught with conflicts and marred by integrity issues,” he said in a statement today.
Sufian emphasised that BN Sabah is not shaken by such reports, as history has shown that BN delivers real development, not scandals.
He mentioned that the Gelombang Biru on September 21 will demonstrate that the people have more faith in BN’s track record than in GRS’s rhetoric or the empty figures in the study reports.
“GRS can hide behind study reports, but the people clearly see their failures and scandals. In fact, the people are now just laughing because they can distinguish between the amusing theories of Ilham Centre and their daily realities,” he added.
Meanwhile, several political observers noted that the study also fails to address the strength of the KDM party, which is becoming increasingly popular among the Kadazandusun Murut Rungus community.
