Loke Siew Fook, the secretary-general of DAP, criticized PKR’s secretary-general Fuziah Salleh for announcing on election night that Pakatan Harapan (PH) would join Sabah’s state government without prior coordination. According to China Press, Loke stated that DAP was not informed of the declaration and was unaware a press conference had taken place.
He voiced his criticism openly, calling the move entirely inappropriate and saying it compromised the bloc’s credibility, making it look foolish. Loke emphasized that PH had secured only one seat in Sabah—Melalap, a PKR contest—with DAP losing all eight seats it contested. He argued that the formation of Sabah’s state government should be announced by the party with the most seats and should come from Hajiji Noor, the chairman of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).
If PH could garner support from additional parties or assembly members, the proper channel would be to form the government and announce it through the appropriate leadership. On polling night, Fuziah asserted in a press conference that PH and GRS had the numbers to form Sabah’s new government. In reality, PH’s tally stood at one seat, while GRS had 29 seats and subsequently allied with Barisan Nasional, Upko, and five independents to govern.
