BERJAYA was a political party based in the eastern state of Sabah in Malaysia. BERJAYA stands for Parti Bersatu Rakyat Jelata Sabah or Sabah People's United Front. The party was a result of a cooperation between Sabah's first Chief Minister Tun Fuad Stephens and former United Sabah National Organization (USNO) secretary-general Harris Salleh. The party has been a partner of Barisan Nasional, Malaysia's ruling coalition, since its inception on July 15, 1975.[1]
BERJAYA governed the state of Sabah for 8 years from 1976 to 1985. Tun Fuad Stephens was previously the president of United Pasok Momogun Kadazan Organisation (UPKO). That party was originally called United National Kadazan Organization (UNKO) before it was renamed UPKO on September 16, 1963, in conjunction with Sabah's independence and Malaysia Day.
When BERJAYA won the 1976 state election,[2] Tun Fuad was installed as Sabah's fifth Chief Minister, his second time holding the post. He replaced Mohammad Said bin Keruak of USNO. However, barely 44 days after becoming Chief Minister, Tun Fuad died in a plane crash in Kota Kinabalu on June 6, 1976. The incident became known as the Double Six Tragedy. Along with him, several other state ministers also perished. Harris Salleh then took over his post, becoming the sixth Chief Minister of Sabah.
In the 1981 state election, BERJAYA again won, this time with an overwhelming majority. They won 44 out of 48 seats contested.[3] In 1984, party member Joseph Pairin Kitingan left the party to form Parti Bersatu Sabah. This newly formed party defeated BERJAYA in the 1985 state election.[4]
In the 1990 state election, BERJAYA's support has evidently dwindled as they failed to win a single seat in the election.[5] The party then effected a merger with USNO to form the Sabah chapter of the Peninsular-based United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). USNO's president Tun Mustapha became Sabah UMNO's first president, while Harris became an adviser to the party.