They said the party can count on the younger leaders to remain loyal as they represent a new way of thinking.
They were commenting on the resignation of Sindumin representative Yusof Yacob last week to become an independent assemblyman supporting the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition.
Warisan president Shafie Apdal claimed that Yusof, the party’s former information chief, had tried to influence others to leave the party to support GRS, with promises of handsome rewards.
“Younger YBs (elected representatives) are usually more bound to the party’s struggles and concerned about issues of integrity,” Universiti Malaysia Sabah senior lecturer Romzi Ationg told FMT.
He said they were inclined to think hard about their political future and would try to avoid being criticised by voters, including being called political frogs, if they were to jump ship.
Romzi said young leaders were commonly seen as being bold and firm in their principles and would be willing to go against the political tide if needed.
He said this is not special only to Warisan, but all other parties, both in the ruling government and opposition.
Most of the Warisan’s remaining 20 assemblymen and eight MPs comprise younger blood, with many serving their first or second term.
Sociopolitical analyst Awang Azman Pawi said Sabah’s current political generation was still haunted by the “old political DNA”, referring to the culture of party hopping, for which the state is infamous.
“But it’s tougher to influence the younger generation by using this old culture because they have a whole new set of thinking,” he told FMT.
“The younger leaders are brave enough to fend off efforts to intimidate them.”
Awang Azman said Warisan would be a threat to GRS in the next general election and, therefore, it was not surprising that outsiders might want to lure away its representatives.
He said parties which accepted defectors might face problems. “This will backfire on them. It will be hard for voters to forget the actions of elected representatives who jump ship. There will be negative effects on the parties taking in these party hoppers.”
Romzi, however, said the defectors themselves would face the wrath of the voters, not the parties that accepted them.
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