Council of Professors fellow Jeniri Amir said Warisan’s strength is in its home state and it would need a lot of resources if it wanted to win seats in Peninsular Malaysia at the 15th general election.

The party should take advantage of its stability, especially after Warisan president Shafie Apdal and his deputy, Darell Leiking, were returned unopposed to their posts.

Jeniri said their re-election was a good reflection of stability. “Now they need to get their priorities right. Don’t be overambitious,” he told FMT.

Earlier this week, Jeniri said Warisan was still struggling for support in Sabah while Peninsular Malaysians were uninterested in what they regarded as a “Sabah-based party”.

He also suggested that Warisan prepare clear plans about Sabah’s economy and poverty, instead of “harping on old narratives about regaining Sabah’s rights”.

Jeniri said: “Everyone is fighting for MA63”, referring to the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

Lee Kuok Tiung of Universiti Malaysia Sabah said Warisan should focus on becoming a kingmaker in the state.

Lee, who previously predicted that Warisan would struggle in Peninsular Malaysia, said the party should not stretch itself after losing its chance to prove that it could run the state government.

The public might not believe in it any longer, he said.

Warisan was in power from 2018 to 2020, when it lost a snap state election after losing its state assembly majority.

Lee said Warisan should pool its resources and focus on winnable seats. “Be realistic. Just focus on Sabah,” he said.

Another analyst, Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said Warisan should look beyond MA63 which he said was “a straw-man issue” being milked for cheap political advantage.

He said it would be better for Warisan to focus on how to alleviate the abject poverty among many Sabahans, “especially when it could not distinguish itself from the hold DAP has on non-Malays”.