The rise and decline of United Malay National Organization (UMNO) in Sabah, Malaysia, 1991-2018

Abstract

The United Malaysian National Organization (UMNO) is a well-known political party in Malaysian politics founded by Dato’ Onn bin Jaafar on May 11, 1946. The party played a very important role not only in the process of gaining the independence of Malaya but also in the formation of Malaysia. This representing party for the Malays, negotiated with the British to obtain independence for Malaya and later to form the new state of Malaysia. After the successful formation of Malaysia, the country was ruled by a coalition known as the Parti Perikatan. However, UMNO saw the necessity of merging with other local parties from Sabah and Sarawak to strengthen the alliance. Hence, the alliance was replaced by a new alliance known as the Barisan Nasional (National Front) in 1973. Since then, the Barisan Nasional has dominated the political arena in Malaysia since the founding of the coalition. The party alliance in Malaysia is important in order to unite people of different races to achieve common goals. Over the years, this alliance became the largest alliance in Malaysia and managed to rule the country until 2018. Even local parties from the state of Sabah joined this alliance to develop the power and secure its interests. However, due to the political instability in Sabah, no local party has ruled Sabah for more than ten years. This precarious situation led to the arrival of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) to Sabah in 1991. This party later succeeded in gaining the support of the people and became the party that ruled Sabah for the longest time. However, after ruling for a long time, the popularity of UMNO- BN in Sabah began to decline. Therefore, this thesis examines the political development of Sabah since independence and its relationship with the federal government, examines the factors of the emergence of UMNO-BN and its government in Sabah, and studies the main reasons for the downfall of UMNO-BN in Sabah. This research employs a qualitative approach by conducting library research to gather information on the subject and relying on primary and secondary sources. Most studies have also focused on the rise and fall of UMNO-BN in Sabah from independence until 2018 as UMNO-BN lost to the opposition during Malaysia's 14th General Election (GE14). It is study that the rise of UMNO-BN in Sabah is mainly due to the tense relationship between the local party that ruled the Sabah state government and the federal government ruled by UMNO-BN. The clash between the leaders of the local political party in Sabah with the leaders of UMNO-BN led to the coming of the national party UMNO to the political arena in Sabah. However, UMNO's rule in Sabah continued for more than two decades, making UMNO the only party to rule Sabah for more than ten years. Altogether, the study found that the downfall of UMNO-BN in Sabah was due to internal factors such as the political rupture within the UMNO party, the Najib Razak’s scandals, and the weak statement made by UMNO-BN during GE14. This study also discovered that external factors such as the birth of a new local political party in Sabah, a strong opposition coalition, and media advances also contribute to the downfall of UMNO-BN in Sabah's politics.