The Tamesis
March 17, 2026
jeddah – For almost seven years, these were the only countries our Prime Minister came from. Is it finally time to change political geography?
Historically, the “Big Three” – Johor, Kedah and Pahang – have a virtual monopoly on the prime ministership, cementing the country’s leadership in the traditional Malay heartland. It was not until Tun Abdullah Badawi broke the mold in 2003, followed by current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, that we saw the rise of Penang.
Sarawak has 31 seats and Sabah has 25 seats, for a total of 56 seats in the 222-member House of Commons. While this represents only 25% of the House of Representatives, their cohesive voting bloc means that no federal government can truly stand without them.
In an era when the fate of Putrajaya is being decided by Borneo’s kingmaker, the question is no longer just about geography, but whether Malaysia’s equal partnership is ready for the ultimate test.
I thought of this when I read social commentator and solidarity advocate Anas Zubedy’s blog post about GE16 yesterday, “GE16: Why not a Prime Minister from Borneo” (bit.ly/4cNGbYY).
Anas believes that ethnocentric politics is currently hampering our political engine. He believes we are stuck in a cycle of asking leaders which race or religion they represent, rather than asking who can best serve the country as a whole.
To illustrate his point, Anas pointed to the corporate world as examples of how choosing leaders from outside traditional circles can fundamentally realign an organization’s goals, citing Volvo’s strategy of shifting from an insurance CEO to safety in the 1970s, and Citibank’s transition to consumer technology in 2021 under a leader with a management consulting background.
He believes Malaysia needs a similar repositioning. By looking at Sabah or Sarawak, he argued, what we were looking for was a political culture that was historically more multi-ethnic, pragmatic and less burdened by sectarianism in Peninsular Malaysia.
“So choosing a leader from Borneo is not just a matter of geography. It could represent a shift in how Malaysia thinks about leadership itself. Just as Citibank repositioned the banking industry as a customer and Volvo repositioned the car industry as safety and human values, so too can Malaysia reorient its politics toward national goals rather than ethnic rivalries.”
He continued: “After all, Malaysia was founded as a federation of regions and peoples. Perhaps it is time that this spirit is reflected in our highest offices.”
Anas ends his article with a provocative challenge: “So the question might not be whether it’s possible. The question might just be: Why not?”
Ironically, however, “what will never happen” is deeply ingrained in the peninsula’s political conventions. While the logic behind electing a Prime Minister in Borneo is sound, it faces a huge obstacle in the form of peninsular anxieties. If we are honest about these obstacles, they look like this:
Malay-Muslim Hegemony: For decades there has been an orchestration that the Prime Minister must be a Malay-Muslim from the heartland. Although the federal constitution does not impose a racial requirement, the political reality is that many among the peninsula’s conservatives see the prime minister as the ultimate protector of Malay rights — a role they have not yet even imagined trusting a leader from the more diverse state of Borneo.
Numbers game: Geography remains a stubborn obstacle. There are 165 seats in Peninsula and 56 in Sabah and Sarawak, so the road to the summit still passes through the congested corridor of Peninsular Malaysia. Borneo leaders need to control a significant portion of these peninsular seats, a feat that is difficult to achieve without a large cross-regional party machine.
An outsider’s view: Although Sabah and Sarawak are “equal partners” on paper, they are still often viewed by the peninsula’s political elite as “fixed deposits” (i.e. vote banks) or kingmakers rather than sources of leadership.
Lack of national parties: Currently, the most powerful leaders in Borneo belong to regional groupings (Parti Sarawak, GRS and Warisan). While this gave them enormous influence, it also tied them to their home turf. Without a truly national brand that resonates in the snack bars of Kelantan and the coffee shops of Petaling Jaya, the Borneo candidate remains a regional choice in the national campaign.
Ultimately, while the corporate world can pivot in new directions overnight, the machinery of the nation-state is fraught with identity politics. “Why not” does not refer to a lack of talent or merit, but to a peninsula that lacks imagination and has only focused on its own reflection for 70 years.
but. There is a but.
It was once possible for a man from Borneo to become prime minister. In 2020, with the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government (remember Operation Sheraton?) and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin resigning as Prime Minister, the opposition parties (which at the time included Pakatan Harapan and its allies) had to choose who would be their prime ministerial candidate: Anwar of PKR or Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal of Sabah Warisan.
After a period of intense deadlock, Anwar emerged as the leading candidate. Even the Sarawak Parties Alliance, which controlled 18 seats at the time, did not support Shafie, who was also a Bornean, but instead formed an alliance with the peninsula’s Perikatan Nasional.
Another opportunity arises after the 15th national election in 2022. While the headlines focus on the glitzy contest between two former prime ministers, Perikatan Nasional chief Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Pakatan Harapan chief Anwar Ibrahim, there is an undercurrent of talk about a Borneo candidate to break the deadlock.
Specifically, Alliance of Parties’ Petra Jaya MP Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof was widely considered a potential prime ministerial candidate in post-election negotiations. GPS secured 23 seats, consolidating its status as the ultimate king. If the Peninsula Alliance fails to find common ground, Fadilla could become the compromise leader the country needs.
Today, he serves as Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy Transition and Water Transition. His appointment as Second Deputy Prime Minister is a historic milestone, making him the first Sarawakian leader to hold the second-highest office in the country. The fact is, however, that even with the deputy prime ministership in hand, the top brass in Putrajaya are still far from Borneo territory.
If we are to move from an ethnically driven framework to a state-centric framework, as Anas said, the peninsula must first break its 70-year habit of looking inward. The talent is there, and the seats are there. The only thing missing is the political courage to cross the South China Sea.
Kedah. Pahang. Johor. Kedah. Penang. Pahang. Kedah. Johor. Pahang. Penang. What about Sarawak or Sabah?
why not?
