Sabah Progressive Party

The party was formed on 21 January 1994, by factions of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) led by its vice-president Yong Teck Lee, who disagrees with directions the PBS leader Joseph Pairin Kitingan is taking the party and state. Yong, who were the Deputy Chief Minister under Pairin, togethers with members of his faction, resigns from PBS on the day of SAPP's formation.{{cite web |title=SAPP Party Background |url=https://legacy.sapp.org.my/background/formation.php |website=legacy.sapp.org.my |access-date=8 July 2024}} The party was registered just in time to enter the 1994 Sabah state election, which SAPP entered under the banner of Barisan Nasional, and won 3 seats out of seven SAPP contested.

When BN regains control of the state on March that year after further defections from PBS, SAPP were part of the government in Sabah. Yong were appointed as the state's Chief Minister from 1996 to 1998, under then rotation system between Muslim bumiputera, Non-Muslim bumiputera, and Chinese leaders for two year tenure each.

The SAPP won two parliamentary seats in the general election held on 8 March 2008. After the 2008 election, there were calls by many Sabahan political parties for more autonomy from the Malaysian federal government.

SAPP President Yong Teck Lee announced on 18 June 2008 that the party would file a "no-confidence motion" in the Dewan Rakyat on 23 June against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, calling on him to step down. The party, criticising what it described as insensitivity on the part of the government towards issues in Sabah, said that it was taking advantage of a unique "window of opportunity" for the sake of Sabah interests, including autonomy, return of Labuan and 20% of oil revenues.{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2008/06/18/sapps-vote-of-no-confidence-against-pm-update-2/|title=SAPP's vote of no confidence against PM (Update 2)|work=The Star|date=18 June 2008|access-date=18 June 2008}}{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2008/07/31/sapp-sticking-to-noconfidence-stand/|title=SAPP sticking to no-confidence stand|work=The Star|date=31 July 2008|access-date=31 July 2008}} The majority of the Sabah population are generally content with the SAPP no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Abdullah who has been accused a number of wrongdoings including corruption and abuse of power. In retaliation for calling for a vote of no-confidence against Abdullah, the BN supreme council issued a show-cause letter to SAPP.{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2008/06/22/showcause-letter-may-be-issued-to-sapp/|title=Show-cause letter may be issued to SAPP|work=The Star|date=22 June 2008|access-date=22 June 2008}} A 30-day period was to give SAPP a chance to reply and defend itself before BN took any action against them.{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2008/06/27/sapp-gets-showcause-letter/|title=SAPP gets show-cause letter|author1=Shahanaaz Habib|author2=Florence A. Samy|author3=Manjit Kaur|work=The Star|date=27 June 2008|access-date=28 June 2008}}

On 17 September 2008, SAPP quit Barisan Nasional.{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-politics/malaysia-party-quits-coalition-pm-cedes-key-post-idUSSP35599620080917|title=Malaysia party quits coalition; PM cedes key post|author1=Jalil Hamid|author2=Faisal Aziz|author3=Liau Y-Sing|author4=David Chance|author5=Jeremy Laurence|publisher=Reuters|date=17 September 2008|access-date=17 September 2008}} Nevertheless, the decision came at a price as the party's deputy president, one of its vice-presidents,{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2008/09/18/sapp-pulls-out-of-barisan/|title=SAPP pulls out of Barisan|author1=Muguntan Vanar|author2=Ruben Sario|work=The Star|date=18 September 2008|access-date=19 September 2008}} and its youth chief (who chose to remain within BN) all opposed the move and withdrew from the party.{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2008/09/21/15-out-of-17-sapp-branches-in-sandakan-opt-to-follow-tan-in-staying-with-barisan/|title=15 out of 17 SAPP branches in Sandakan opt to follow Tan in staying with Barisan|work=The Star|date=21 September 2008|access-date=22 September 2008}} Some 2,000 members of the party similarly disagreed from the move and left the party, showing support for these dissident leaders.{{cite web|url=http://www.mysinchew.com/node/16491|title=2,000 SAPP Members Quit Party|work=Bernama|publisher=Sin Chew Daily|date=20 September 2008|access-date=22 September 2008}}

In 2016, the party formed a part of the United Sabah Alliance (USA) and reformed the coalition in 2020 as Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS). SAPP officially became the part of the official member of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah in 2020.

{{Main|List of Malaysian State Assembly Representatives (2022–present)}}

Sabah State Legislative Assembly{{Composition bar|1|79|hex={{party color|Sabah Progressive Party}}}}

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• {{Official website|http://www.sapp.org.my/}}

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Category:Political parties in Sabah

Category:1994 establishments in Malaysia

Category:Political parties established in 1994