He said Warisan Plus was “the one single party with the most seats” in the new state assembly, although the alliance had failed to attain the 37 seats needed for a majority.

Speaking to reporters at a 1.15am press conference outside Rumah Yayasan Sabah, he said: “I want to thank the voters in Sabah for giving such strong support to Warisan Plus in the 16th state election. We can see that the one single party with the most seats is Warisan with 29 seats.”

When asked if Warisan still planned to form the next state government, Shafie said the current political situation at the national and state level was uncertain. He reiterated that Warisan was the one party with the most seats.

“We will see how it goes in terms of the political situation,” he added.

Shafie’s reference to the party with the most seats appeared to be an allusion to the constitutional practice of the head of the largest party being chosen to head the government.

Earlier in the night, Barisan Nasional chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said that under the constitution, the governor would appoint the individual from the party that won the most seats to lead the state.

The official results announced by Election Commission chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh were that Warisan Plus won 29 seats, while its partners Upko and PKR won one seat and two seats respectively.

He said Perikatan Nasional won 17 seats, followed by Barisan Nasional (BN) with 14 and PBS with six.

Three independents also managed to win seats in the Sabah state assembly.

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