Yusri Pungut

Summary

Yusri Pungut is the ADUN for Sindumin (N35), Sabah, representing Parti Warisan in opposition following his victory in the 17th Sabah State Election on 29 November 2025. A former magistrate and senior lawyer with over two decades of legal experience, he was a political newcomer when elected, defeating Pakatan Harapan's Datuk Yamani Hafez Musa by 362 votes. His election was confirmed by the Kota Kinabalu High Court in February 2026 after a voter's petition challenging the result was dismissed.

Biography

Yusri Pungut is the Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) for Sindumin (N35) in Sabah, representing Parti Warisan. He is a senior lawyer based in Sabah who previously served as a magistrate before establishing his own law firm, through which he provided pro bono legal services to residents of the Sipitang district [1]. According to Sinar Harian, he has over two decades of experience in the judiciary and legal fields. Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal described him as "a prominent senior lawyer in Sabah" when endorsing his candidacy in November 2025 [2]. Prior to his election, Yusri served as Warisan's information chief for Sipitang [2]. He contested the 17th Sabah State Election on 29 November 2025 as a first-time candidate, winning the Sindumin seat with 5,086 votes and a majority of 362 votes over Pakatan Harapan's Datuk Yamani Hafez Musa [3]. He was one of eleven new Warisan faces elected to the Sabah State Legislative Assembly in that election [4]. His election victory was subsequently challenged by a voter's petition but the Kota Kinabalu High Court dismissed the petition on 24 February 2026, affirming his position as the lawful representative for Sindumin [5]. Yusri sits in opposition, as Warisan forms the main opposition bloc in the 17th Sabah State Legislative Assembly [2]. In the state assembly, he has raised issues concerning land tenure and village reserves in the Sipitang area, as well as equitable development allocation for opposition constituencies [2].

Known for

Yusri Pungut is known as a first-time state assemblyman with a background as a former magistrate and practising senior lawyer who provided pro bono legal services in the Sipitang area before entering politics. He is part of Warisan's cohort of new faces elected in the 2025 Sabah state election, in which he defeated a high-profile Pakatan Harapan candidate. In the Sabah State Assembly, he has focused on land rights and resource allocation issues affecting rural communities in his constituency.

Political positions

Based on sourced reporting, Yusri Pungut has raised two distinct policy positions in the Sabah State Assembly. First, he has questioned the state government on land and forest reserve management, specifically regarding the excision of land from the former Sabah Forest Industries concession in the Sipitang district for conversion into village reserves, signalling a focus on rural land tenure and community rights [2][6]. Second, during the December 2025 Sabah budget debate, he called for opposition constituencies to receive the same development allocation as government-held seats, raising the issue of equitable public resource distribution [2][7]. Prior to his election, he expressed a view on constitutional matters, stating publicly in 2022 that he considered it contrary to tradition for a non-Muslim to be appointed as Sabah's Yang di-Pertua Negeri, while conceding there was no legal prohibition [8]. No further formal policy positions have been sourced to date.

Before politics

1. Pre-2021 (approx.)Served as a magistrate in Malaysia's judicial service. According to Sinar Harian, this role preceded his establishment of his own law firm by approximately four years before the 2025 election.⛓
2. Circa 2021 onwardsFounded his own law firm after leaving the magistracy. Through the firm, he provided pro bono legal services to residents of the Sipitang area without direct political involvement.⛓

Political career

1. November 2025Named by Parti Warisan as its candidate for the N35 Sindumin seat in the 17th Sabah State Election. Identified by Warisan as serving as the party's information chief for Sipitang.⛓
2. 29 November 2025Won the Sindumin seat in the 17th Sabah State Election with 5,086 votes and a majority of 362 votes over Pakatan Harapan's Datuk Yamani Hafez Musa in a 10-cornered contest, as declared by the Election Commission.⛓
3. December 2025Participated in the Sabah state assembly budget debate, calling for opposition constituencies to receive equal development allocation as government-held seats.⛓
4. 27 December 2025Named as third respondent in an election petition filed by voter Wendey Agong Baruh seeking to annul the Sindumin election result, based on a video allegedly showing an election officer crumpling a ballot paper.⛓
5. 24 February 2026The Kota Kinabalu High Court dismissed the election petition against him. High Court Judge Datuk Dean Wayne Daly affirmed the election result as valid, and the petitioner was ordered to pay RM20,000 costs to the three respondents. Yusri represented himself at the hearing as a senior lawyer.⛓
6. April 2026Raised a question in the Sabah State Assembly regarding the release of former Sabah Forest Industries concession land as village reserves in the Sipitang district. The government confirmed 16,022 hectares had been excised and gazetted as village reserves.⛓

Election history

• 2025Sindumin (N35), SabahWon32.1%⛓

Perspectives on key issues

• GovernmentWarisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal endorsed Yusri as the best candidate for Sindumin, describing him as a prominent senior lawyer with no track record of corruption, and presenting him as an experienced professional rather than simply a fresh face.⛓
• VerifiedFactsThe Election Commission's official results confirmed Yusri Pungut won Sindumin with 5,086 votes, a majority of 362, in the 17th Sabah State Election on 29 November 2025. The Kota Kinabalu High Court subsequently affirmed the result on 24 February 2026 after dismissing an election petition.⛓
• PublicA farmer in Long Pasia, within the Sindumin constituency, expressed hope that the newly elected assemblyman would address perennial issues of land rights and encroachment into community land by government agencies and companies.⛓
• OppositionSindumin assemblyman Yusri Pungut raised the concern during the December 2025 Sabah budget debate that opposition seats should receive the same development allocation as constituencies held by government assemblymen, signalling a structural equity concern from the opposition bench.⛓