Abdul Ghapur Salleh

In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Salleh is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Abdul Ghapur.

Abdul Ghapur bin Salleh (21 March 1945 – 4 July 2023) was a Malaysian politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Kalabakan constituency from March 2004 to May 2018. He was a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.^[1]

Yang Berbahagia Datuk Seri Panglima Abdul Ghapur Salleh SPDK
عبدالغڤور صالح‎
Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Kalabakan
In office 21 March 2004 – 9 May 2018
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Ma'mun Sulaiman (WARISAN)
Majority	Walkover (2004) Walkover (2008) 14,221 (2013)
Personal details
Born	(1945-03-21)21 March 1945 Kalabakan, Tawau, Japanese-occupied North Borneo (now present-day Sabah, Malaysia)
Died	4 July 2023(2023-07-04) (aged 78) Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Political party	Sabah People's United Front (BERJAYA) United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) (–2022)
Other political affiliations	Barisan Nasional (BN) (–2022)
Occupation	Politician

Before entering federal politics, Abdul Ghapur was active in Sabah state politics, initially as a member of the Sabah People's United Front (commonly known as BERJAYA). He joined UMNO when it moved into the state in the early 1990s and was a Deputy Chief Minister (representing the Muslim Bumiputeras) in the Barisan Nasional state government between 1996 and 1998, under the Chief Ministerships of Yong Teck Lee and Bernard Giluk Dompok, later only to become a regular state cabinet minister under Chong Kah Kiat's chief ministership from 2001 to 2003.^[2][3]

Political career

Abdul Ghapur was elected unopposed to federal Parliament in 2004, for the newly created seat of Kalabakan on the border between Malaysia and Indonesia in the East Coast of Sabah.^[4] In 2008, after his re-election (again unopposed), he was appointed a Deputy Minister for Resources and Natural Environment by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, only to resign eight days later.^[2] Later that year he openly criticised the BN government in Parliament for overlooking the needs of Sabah and Sarawak states, which had voted resoundingly in favour of BN in the 2008 election.^[5] He again spoke out against the federal government for what he considered to be its slow response to the invasion of part of eastern Sabah by Filipino militants in 2013. At the same time, he criticised UMNO's internal election process as being open to corruption, claiming that "people will do anything just to get on the Supreme Council even if it’s very expensive".^[6]

Death

Abdul Ghapur died from kidney failure on 4 July 2023, at the age of 78.^[7]

Election results

Parliament of Malaysia^[4][8]

Year	Constituency	Candidate		Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnover
2004	P191 Kalabakan		Abdul Ghapur Salleh (UMNO)	Unopposed
2008			Abdul Ghapur Salleh (UMNO)
2013			Abdul Ghapur Salleh (UMNO)	23,125	65.87%		Usman Madeaming (PAS)	8,904	25.36%	36,230	14,221	77.43%
							Mohd Manuke (IND)	1,313	3.74%
							Siamsir Borhan (IND)	891	2.54%
							Malvine Reyes (STAR)	603	1.72%
							Freddie Japat Simol (IND)	137	0.39%
							Yahya Zainal (IND)	132	0.38%
2018			Abdul Ghapur Salleh (UMNO)	15,299	41.15%		Ma'mun Sulaiman (WARISAN)	18,486	50.09%	38,041	3,187	72.88%
							Norbin Aloh (PAS)	2,813	7.62%
							Ahmad Lahama (PPRS)	311	0.84%

Honours

• Sabah :
  • Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (PGDK) – Datuk (1994)
  • Grand Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (SPDK) – Datuk Seri Panglima (2006)