Petaling Jaya – When a 46-day-large party defeated the mighty Berjaya, it was indeed a David story about the giant, who had ruled Sabah for nine years. The spirit of 1985 is called the sentiment that “swept the party”.
I grew up in Kota Kinabalu in the 1980s and I felt that emotion.
At that time, when PBS founder Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan spoke at any ceramah, my Bulu Roma Kembang (I got the chicken skin). He was the idol of the spirit of 1985.
At that time, the Sabahan Federation lowered the state governments they considered too pro-national. It's also about fighting for Sabah, which formed Malaysia with Singapore, Sarawak and Malaya in 1963.
If there is a famous saying that describes the federal government's support for Barisan Nasional Company party Berjaya, it is that then Prime Minister and Umno President Datuk Seri (now TUN) Dr. Mahathir Mohamad ran for Berjaya in the 1985 Snap election: “Sink or swim.”
Well, the spirit of 1985 most decisively sank a party supported by state and federal governments.
Over the past few months, I have been involved in the advancement of Sabah Way, a group dedicated to addressing the challenges facing and promoting its progress, as well as showing Sabah’s media platform Northborneotv; we have been creating a documentary called 1985 Spirit. It aims to capture the nature of the political movement in the 1980s and its influence on Sabah.
The main feedback from the social media campaign is about the documentary’s “PBS Tetap di hati” (PBS is always in mind). But this comes with a qualifier, that is, PBS is not the PBS of the past. Commentators shouted out the spirit of 1985. They want a party or alliance that is more like PBS.
On March 5, 1985, Sabah’s oldest local gathering will celebrate its 40th anniversary on Wednesday.
I don't know much about this, but the Sabahans are political pioneers. Many people in the Peninsula of Malaysia believe that when PKATAN RAKYAT (which included PKR, DAP and PAS at the time) was the first league to beat Mighty Barisan when it won five states in the 2008 general election – Kedah, Kelantan, Kelantan, Penang, Penang, Perak and Selangor.
However, PBS defeated Barisan when he defeated Berjaya in 1985.
But of course, the mainstream media at the time were more focused on the peninsula, with Sabah and Sarawak tending to not get a lot of front page headlines. There was no social media in the 1980s either. And, in fact, many people on the Malaysian Peninsula do not know this political history.
Many also believe that only Pakatan Rakyat, transformed into Pakatan harapan, struggled the most with the federal government controlled by Barisan.
PBS, which had already entered and exited Barisan, also made bold decisions, such as the withdrawal of the federal coalition to work with opposition parties such as Semangat 46, DAP and PAS, to fight Goliath before 1985.
Dr. Mahathir calls PBS a “back stab”.
After nine years of domination, PBS won the 1994 state election with a slim majority – against Barrisan's 23-year-old. Most of the poor performance attributed to the league is attributed to the IC program (accusation of using Phantom voters), the re-ruling of voters, and the power of the federal government.
Sabah Chief Minister Keating Ann resigned generously after some of his meetings. He can't play the dissolved state assembly card.
Can the spirit of 1985 be replicated?
Forty years after the change perspective swept Sabah, I believe my state is ready for the spirit of 2025.
This is the election year in Sabah, as polls must be conducted by December. Most Sabahans are calling for the main Sabah parties to unite under an election treaty. They want an electoral alliance with national political parties with only Sabah.
The ideal team is GRS (eight local parties anchored by PGRS, PBS and Sabah Star) with local Parti Warisan and Kuala Lumpur’s election treaty combined Umno-led Barisan and Pakatan (currently PKR, DAP, DAP, AMANAH and UPKO).
Sabahans hopes Sarawak enjoys that kind of political solidarity, and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) won a super contribution in the Sarawak elections in 2021 – 76 out of 82 seats. The only NPC to win a seat was DAP, with the remaining four seats landing at Parti Sarawak Bersatu.
But Sabah politics is scattered.
In 1985, the main political parties were Berjaya, USNO and PBS. Interestingly, this is the Sabah Party and the Sabah Party.
After the vote count, PBS won 25 seats, PASOK (recognized by PBS as a candidate was disqualified), USNO 16 and Berjaya Six. PBS forms 26 seats (plus PASOK)
Now, the arrangement of alliances and political parties seems endless.
Probably Barisan and Pakatan vs Grs vs Parti Warisan vs Perikatan nasional vs Parti KDM vs Mosquito party with other mosquitoes.
Or maybe Barisan, Pakatan and Grs vs Parti Warisan vs Perikatan vs Parti KDM vs Mosquito party with independents.
The Sabahans hopes to be the remainder of the election treaty consisting only of Sabah parties, GRS and Warisan.
Will it happen?
Two large powerful agents in Sabah politics are not allowed to do so. Next time, when I'm not so upset, I'll write about the reappearance of these two politicians. They now dominate the political fate of Sabah. However, the state has a third power broker: Lakiat of Sabah. I believe they want the spirit of 2025.
