Sabah People's United Front

{{redirect|Berjaya}} {{Infobox political party | country = Malaysia | name = Sabah People's United Front | native_name = | lang1 = Malay | name_lang1 = Parti Bersatu Rakyat Jelata Sabah ڤرتي برساتو رعيت جلتا سابه | lang2 = Chinese | name_lang2 = 沙巴人民聯合陣綫 沙巴人民联合阵线 ''Shābā rénmín liánhé zhènxiàn'' | logo = Parti Berjaya Logo.svg | abbreviation = BERJAYA | leader = Harris Salleh | foundation = 15 July 1975 | dissolution = 1991 | headquarters = Sinsuran Complex Kota Kinabalu, Sabah | newspaper = | youth_wing = | membership_year = | membership = | ideology = | national = Barisan Nasional {{small|(1976-1986)}} | international = | colours = | colorcode = {{party color|Sabah People's United Front}} | flag = Parti Berjaya Flag.svg | website = | footnotes = | merged = UMNO Sabah | split = USNO }} {{Politics of Malaysia}}

'''Sabah People's United Front''' or in Malay ''Parti Bersatu Rakyat Jelata Sabah'' is more commonly known by its abbreviation BERJAYA, was a political party based in the state of Sabah, Malaysia. BERJAYA was formed by former United Sabah National Organisation (USNO) secretary-general Harris Salleh who was later joined by Fuad Stephens, who served as the first Chief Minister of Sabah as well as president of the United Pasokmomogun Kadazan Organisation (UPKO). Stephens became the fifth Chief Minister after BERJAYA won the 1976 state election in April but died in June the same year, being succeeded by Salleh.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.singapore-elections.com/malaysia-political-parties/upko.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125122816/http://www.singapore-elections.com/malaysia-political-parties/upko.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=January 25, 2019|title=UPKO/PDS|access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.singapore-elections.com/malaysia-political-parties/berjaya.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324185707/http://www.singapore-elections.com/malaysia-political-parties/berjaya.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=March 24, 2020|title=Parti Bersatu Rakyat Jelata Sabah|access-date=25 March 2020}}</ref> The party had been a partner of Barisan Nasional (BN), the then ruling coalition of Malaysia since its inception on 15 July 1975.<ref name=coup>{{cite journal|journal=Asian Survey|volume=19| issue=4|pages=379–389|date=April 1979|title=A Constitutional Coup D'Etat: An Analysis of the Birth and Victory of the Berjaya Party in Sabah, Malaysia|author=Sin, Fong Han|doi=10.2307/2643858|jstor=2643858}}</ref>

BERJAYA governed the state of Sabah for 8 years from 1976 to 1985 after it won the 1976 state election and ousted USNO,<ref>[https://archive.today/20240524155622/https://www.webcitation.org/5knvFrv9v?url=http://www.geocities.com/hualian_studentclub/pilihanraya/pilihanraya_umum_sabah_1976.htm Malaysia - Pilihan Raya - Pilihan Raya Umum Sabah ( 1976 )]</ref> Fuad was installed as Sabah's fifth Chief Minister, his second time holding the post. He replaced Mohammad Said Keruak of USNO. However, barely 44 days after becoming Chief Minister, Fuad died in a plane crash in Kota Kinabalu on 6 June 1976, known as the Double Six Tragedy. Along with him, several other state ministers also perished, including Datuk Peter Joinod Mojuntin, who was the Minister of Local Government and Housing. Harris then took over his post, becoming the sixth Chief Minister of Sabah.

In the 1981 state election, BERJAYA again won, this time with an overwhelming majority. They won 44 out of 48 seats contested.<ref>[https://archive.today/20240524155704/https://www.webcitation.org/5knvG8oeQ?url=http://www.geocities.com/hualian_studentclub/pilihanraya/pilihanraya_umum_sabah_1981.htm Malaysia - Pilihan Raya - Pilihan Raya Umum Sabah ( 1981 )]</ref> In 1984, party member cum vice-president Joseph Pairin Kitingan left the party to form Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), as a result of being sacked due to differences with party president, Harris Salleh for he was championing the equal rights of the Kadazan-Dusun-Murut community since he claimed the latter for repeating Mustapha Harun's wrongdoings by encouraging forced conversions to Islam as well as limiting freedom of religion to non-Muslims and instilling population inequality between Muslims and non-Muslims in Sabah. This newly formed party then defeated BERJAYA in the 1985 state election.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080314135043/http://www.geocities.com/hualian_studentclub/pilihanraya/pilihanraya_umum_sabah_1985.htm Malaysia - Pilihan Raya - Pilihan Raya Umum Sabah ( 1985 )]</ref>

In the 1990 state election, BERJAYA's support has evidently dwindled as they failed to win a single seat in the election and it was ousted by United Sabah Party (PBS).<ref>[https://archive.today/20240524155741/https://www.webcitation.org/5knvGdIF8?url=http://www.geocities.com/hualian_studentclub/pilihanraya/pilihanraya_umum_sabah_1990.htm Malaysia - Pilihan Raya - Pilihan Raya Umum Sabah ( 1990 )]</ref> The party then effected a merger with USNO to form the Sabah chapter of the Peninsular-based United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). USNO's president Tun Mustapha Harun became Sabah UMNO's first president, while Harris became an adviser to the party.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hrmars.com/papers_submitted/3638/The_United_Malays_National_Organisation_(UMNO)_in_Sabah,_East_Malaysia_An_Overview_1990-1994.pdf|title=The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in Sabah, East Malaysia: An Overview 1990-1994 International |author=|work=Hamdan Aziz (Ph.D) & Syahrin Said, Department of Nationhood and Civilization Studies, Centre for Fundamental and Liberal Education, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT)|publisher=Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Vol. 7, No. 12|year=2017 |issn=2222-6990|via=HR Mars|access-date=25 September 2021}}</ref>

==History== On 23 April 1975, Mustapha Harun, chief minister of Sabah from the USNO party, announced a memorandum named "The Future Position of Sabah in Malaysia", in which he argued that Sabah would be better of financially as an independent country.<ref name="Faisal 2018"/> Malaysia's federal government decided to sponsor the formation of a new party named BERJAYA with Harris Salleh, former dissident vice-president of USNO as its founder.<ref name="Faisal 2018"/><ref name="Chin 1994">{{cite journal |last1=Chin |first1=James |title=The Sabah State Election of 1994: End of Kadazan Unity |journal=Asian Survey |date=October 1994 |volume=34 |issue=10 |pages=904-915 |doi=10.2307/2644969 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2644969 |access-date=8 April 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The federal government also persuaded Fuad Stephens, the governor of Sabah at that time, to resign from the governorship and join Harris in fighting against USNO. Both BERJAYA and USNO were within the Barisan Nasional (BN) governing coalition at the federal level but BERJAYA became the opposition at the state level, opposing USNO. The rivalry of the two parties ended in 1976 Sabah state election when BERJAYA emerged victorious against USNO.<ref name="Faisal 2018">{{Cite journal |first=Faisal |last=S. Hazis |date=2018 |title=Domination, Contestation, and Accommodation: 54 Years of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/seas/7/3/7_341/_pdf/-char/en |language=en |publisher=Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University |doi=10.20495/seas.7.3_341|journal=Southeast Asian Studies}}</ref>

== Government offices ==

=== State governments ===

* '''Sabah''' ('''1976–1985''')

Note: '''bold''' as Chief Minister, ''italic'' as junior partner

==Election results== {| class=wikitable style=text-align:center |- ! rowspan="2" | Election year ! colspan="2" | Malaysia Parliament ! colspan="2" | Sabah State Assembly ! rowspan="2" | Outcome |- ! Candidates ! Seats won ! Candidates ! Seats won |- ! 1976 | - | - | 48 | {{Composition bar|28|48|{{party color|Sabah People's United Front}}}} | {{increase}}28 seats; '''Sabah state government''' |- ! 1978 | 10 | {{Composition bar|9|154|{{party color|Sabah People's United Front}}}} | - | - | {{increase}}9 seats; '''Federal governing coalition''' {{small|(Barisan Nasional)}} |- ! 1981 | - | - | 48 | {{Composition bar|44|48|{{party color|Sabah People's United Front}}}} | {{increase}}16 seats; '''Sabah state government''' {{small|(Barisan Nasional, contested under Berjaya ticket)}} |- ! 1982 | 11 | {{Composition bar|10|154|{{party color|Sabah People's United Front}}}} | - | - | {{increase}}1 seat; '''Federal governing coalition''' {{small|(Barisan Nasional)}} |- ! 1985 | - | - | 48 | {{Composition bar|6|48|{{party color|Sabah People's United Front}}}} | {{decrease}}38 seats; '''Sabah state opposition''' {{small|(Barisan Nasional)}} |- ! 1986 | - | - | 37 | {{Composition bar|1|48|{{party color|Sabah People's United Front}}}} | {{decrease}}5 seats; '''Sabah state opposition''' {{small|(Barisan Nasional)}} Snap election |- ! 1986 | 9 | {{Composition bar|0|177|{{party color|Sabah People's United Front}}}} | - | - | {{decrease}}10 seats; '''No representation in Parliament''' |- ! 1990 | - | - | 48 | {{Composition bar|0|48|{{party color|Sabah People's United Front}}}} | {{decrease}}1 seats; '''No representation in State Assembly''' |- |}

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{cite book |author1=Regina Lim |title=Federal-state Relations in Sabah, Malaysia: The Berjaya Administration, 1976-85 |date=2008 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=9789812308122 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bM4HifRARgYC}}

Category:Defunct political parties in Sabah Category:1976 establishments in Malaysia Category:1991 disestablishments in Malaysia Category:Political parties established in 1976 Category:Political parties disestablished in 1991