1981 Sabah state election

1981 Sabah state election
← 1976 23–28 March 1981 1985 →
All 48 seats in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly
25 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader Harris Salleh Said Keruak Steven Chan Tze Hiang[1]
Party BERJAYA USNO SCCP
Alliance Barisan Nasional (federal) Barisan Nasional (federal)
Barisan Sabah (state) 		Barisan Sabah (state)
Leader since 1976 1961
Leader's seat Tenom Usukan Bandar Tawau
Last election 28 seats 20 seats –
Seats won 44 3 1
Seat change Increase16 Decrease17 New
Chief Minister before election

Harris Salleh
Barisan Nasional, (BERJAYA)

Elected Chief Minister

Harris Salleh
Barisan Nasional, (BERJAYA)

The 1981 Sabah state election was held between Monday, 23 March and Saturday, 28 March 1981. This was the fourth state election to take place. The Sabah State Legislative Assembly was dissolved on 21 February 1981, 2 months earlier than the expiry of the Assembly term on 26 April 1981. Candidates nomination took place on 7 March 1981.[2][3]

In the election, BERJAYA Party led by Harris Salleh, an ally of federal government party Barisan Nasional (BN), won the election with a supermajority of 44 seats out of 48, and thus continued its governance of the state won since the last election on 1976.[4] USNO, another component party of BN but opposition to BERJAYA on state level, created a coalition, Barisan Sabah, with PASOK and SCCP to fight BERJAYA.[1] However the result were disastrous to the new coalition as they only won 4 seats; USNO reduced from 20 to 3 seats, SCCP winning one seat and PASOK none.[4]

  1. ^ a b "Tunku: Do not spoilt votes". 11 March 1981. p. 11. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  2. ^ Laporan Pilihan Raya Umum Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah, Tahun 1981, Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya
  3. ^ "Who's where for the five-day polls". 8 March 1981. p. 9. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  4. ^ a b "It's a knock-out by Berjaya". 29 March 1981. p. 1. Retrieved 31 December 2022.