SANDAKAN: Sabah DAP is committed to defending the Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu seats at the next general election as the party seeks to rebuild public confidence following its defeat in the previous state election.
Its chairman Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe said the party's immediate priority was to strengthen its grassroots machinery, recruit new members and consolidate support in the two constituencies.
He called on party members to work towards securing another mandate from voters in the two parliamentary seats held by Datuk Chan Foong Hin (Kota Kinabalu) and Vivian Wong Shir Yee (Sandakan).
Phoong, who was speaking to reporters after the Sabah DAP annual convention here on Sunday (Nov 8), said they would focus on existing strongholds and not spread resources too thinly.
Sabah DAP lost all eight state seats it contested in the November 2025 state election.
Phoong described the defeat as "painful", admitting that the party had not sufficiently understood concerns raised by Sabahans.
"Trust has to be earned again," he said.
Phoong also said internal reforms for Sabah DAP were being mooted, including greater autonomy, adding Sabahans increasingly want decisions affecting the state to be made locally.
He also called for a new political approach in Sabah, arguing that repeated changes of government had failed to produce the improvements many Sabahans are hoping for.
