Hajiji Noor

Summary

Datuk Seri Hajiji bin Noor (born 10 May 1955) is the 16th Chief Minister of Sabah, serving since September 2020 and re-appointed for a second term in November 2025 after his GRS coalition won the 17th Sabah State Election. He has held the Sulaman state seat continuously since 1990, across USNO, UMNO, BERSATU, and now his own party GAGASAN, and is the principal architect of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition that has reshaped Sabah's political landscape around locally-registered parties. His first term in office was marked by the passage of the Sabah Anti-Party Hopping Bill in 2023 and a sustained push to complete the Pan Borneo Highway.

Biography

Datuk Seri Hajiji bin Noor (born 10 May 1955, Kampung Serusup, Tuaran, Sabah) is a Malaysian politician who serves as the 16th Chief Minister of Sabah and President of Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (GAGASAN) [1]. He has represented the Sulaman state constituency in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly continuously since 1990, making him one of the longest-serving state assemblymen in Sabah [2]. Of Bajau Sama ethnicity, Hajiji began his working life as an RTM radio announcer in 1976 before receiving a state scholarship to study Community Economic Development and Human Services in the United States [3]. He subsequently served in the civil service as a Customs officer before entering full-time politics [3]. He entered politics in 1990 under the United Sabah National Organisation (USNO) banner, winning the Sulaman seat in the Seventh Sabah State Election [2]. Following USNO's dissolution, he joined UMNO in 1994 and rose to become Tuaran UMNO Division Chief and Sabah UMNO Treasurer from 2001 to 2018 [1]. After BN's defeat in Sabah in 2018, he led a bloc of Sabah BN representatives into BERSATU and became Sabah BERSATU chairman [3]. He formed the informal Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition in September 2020 and was sworn in as Chief Minister on 29 September 2020 after GRS won the 16th Sabah State Election [2]. He departed BERSATU in December 2022 and assumed the presidency of Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (GAGASAN) in January 2023 [2]. He was re-elected to the Sulaman seat in the 17th Sabah State Election in November 2025 with a majority of 8,919 votes and was sworn in for a second term as Chief Minister on 30 November 2025 [2]. He is married to Datin Julia Salag and has three sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren [2].

Known for

Hajiji Noor is defined politically by his role as the architect and chairman of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition, which re-positioned Sabah's state government around a Sabah-centric, locally-registered coalition structure from 2020 onwards [1]. He is also noted for steering the passage of the Sabah Anti-Party Hopping Bill in May 2023, making him the first Sabah Chief Minister to secure unanimous assembly approval for such legislation [4]. His continuous representation of the Sulaman constituency since 1990 — across nine successive elections — marks him as one of the most durable constituency-level politicians in Sabah's modern history [3].

Political positions

On political governance, Hajiji has consistently advocated for Sabah-based coalition politics, arguing that locally-registered parties better serve Sabah's interests than branches of peninsula-based national parties [2]. He championed the Anti-Party Hopping Bill as a measure to end the culture of defections that he said had historically disrupted Sabah's development plans [4]. On economic development, his administration has prioritised the completion of the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway, a 1,236 km infrastructure project being implemented in three phases [2]. His government launched the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) 2.0 Development Plan as the state's core development agenda and aligned it with the 13th Malaysia Plan to 2030 [2]. On the issue of undocumented residents, his administration established the Sabah Special Committee on Citizenship Status (JKKSK) to process citizenship applications for children born without documentation under Article 15A of the Federal Constitution [2]. He has also publicly defended Sabah's sovereignty in response to international legal challenges, welcoming the Netherlands Supreme Court's dismissal of the Sulu claimants' appeal in 2024 [2].

Education

1. 1961Attended Serusup Native Primary School (SK Serusup), Tuaran, for primary education.⛓
2. 1967Enrolled at Tuaran District Government Secondary School (now SMK Badin) for secondary education.⛓
3. 1972Transferred to St. John's Secondary School, where he excelled in the Malaysian Certificate of Education examination.⛓

Before politics

1. 1976Began career as an RTM radio announcer in Sabah.⛓
2. Late 1970s–1980sReceived a state scholarship to study Community Economic Development and Human Services in the United States; subsequently entered the civil service as a Customs officer.⛓

Political career

1. 1990Won the Sulaman state seat in the 7th Sabah State Election under USNO, beginning a continuous run of representation in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly.⛓
2. 1991–1994Served as a member of Bank Rakyat's board of directors.⛓
3. 1992–1993Appointed Political Secretary to Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Ghafar Baba.⛓
4. 1994Joined UMNO following the dissolution of USNO; became Tuaran UMNO Division Chief the following year, a position he held until 2018.⛓
5. 1994–2001 (various)Served as Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Industrial Development, and other portfolios under the Sabah BN state government.⛓
6. 2001–2018Served as Treasurer of UMNO Sabah.⛓
7. 2004Appointed Minister of Local Government and Housing under then-Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman.⛓
8. 2018Following BN's defeat in the 2018 Sabah state election, led a bloc of Sabah BN representatives out of UMNO into BERSATU; became Sabah BERSATU chairman.⛓
9. September 2020Established the informal Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition ahead of the 16th Sabah State Election; GRS won 38 of 73 seats.⛓
10. 29 September 2020Sworn in as the 16th Chief Minister of Sabah after the GRS coalition won the 2020 state election.⛓
11. March 2022Became the first chairman of the officially registered Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) political coalition.⛓
12. December 2022Left BERSATU along with other Sabah BERSATU leaders, becoming a direct member of GRS.⛓
13. 29 January 2023Assumed the presidency of Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (GAGASAN), a locally-registered Sabah party within the GRS coalition.⛓
14. May 2023Tabled and secured unanimous passage of the Sabah Anti-Party Hopping Bill in the State Legislative Assembly, becoming the first Sabah Chief Minister to do so.⛓
15. 30 November 2025Sworn in for a second term as Chief Minister of Sabah after retaining the Sulaman seat with an 8,919-vote majority in the 17th Sabah State Election.⛓

Election history

• 2025SulamanWon⛓
• 2020SulamanWon⛓
• 2018SulamanWon⛓
• 2013SulamanWon⛓
• 2008SulamanWon⛓
• 2004SulamanWon⛓
• 1999SulamanWon⛓
• 1994SulamanWon⛓
• 1990SulamanWon⛓

Perspectives on key issues

• GovernmentHajiji's administration has framed the GRS coalition as a Sabah-first model aligned with the federal unity government, emphasising infrastructure delivery via the Pan Borneo Highway and the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) 2.0 Development Plan as evidence of stable, development-oriented governance.⛓
• OppositionParti Warisan (the largest opposition bloc with 25 seats in the 17th Sabah assembly) has previously questioned the Sabah state government's distribution of provisional land licences, with Warisan Youth calling on MACC to clarify whether Hajiji had been questioned over leaked videos related to the matter, according to Malaysiakini.⛓
• VerifiedFactsHajiji has won the Sulaman seat nine consecutive times since 1990. He was sworn in as Chief Minister on 29 September 2020 and again on 30 November 2025. The Sabah Anti-Party Hopping Bill was passed unanimously in May 2023 with 75 assembly members supporting and four absent.⛓
• ExpertPolitical analyst Romzi Ationg, cited by Wikipedia via the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah article, regarded Hajiji's decision to leave Sabah BERSATU and transform GRS into a purely Sabah-based entity as a move that had been long-awaited by the local population.⛓