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Is Sabah ganging up against peninsular-based parties?

THE NATIONAL FRONT (BN) WANTS TO catch the Opposition offguard to call for snap elections. It has all but lost the Malay ground, and assumed, correctly as it turns out, that if it could remain in power in Sabah, Sarawak and Johore, it could well have its two-thirds majority in the new parliament. A win in Sabah could give it a psychological victory to make it easier when general elections are called for the whole country. So tactically it decided on polls in Sabah first. It ran almost immediately into heavy weather: a Sabah for Sabahans call to reject Peninsular-based political parties; and the Opposition PAS's decision to dissolve the Kelantan and Trengganu state assemblies when Sabah's is. BN is caught offguard, is forced to contemplate five years in Opposition in the state and the loss of its two-thirds majority in the federal parliament. The anti-federal pressure affects all peninsular-based parties - Sabah UMNO, KeADILan, DAP, MCA, PAS - with the pressure heaviest - because it is in power now - on Sabah UMNO.

If that is not enough, two federal business men, one a federal MP the other a business man with much to answer for, and a Sarawak MP, and RM100 million at its disposal, could not register for two years a political party called Bersatu, and now negotiates to buy into a Sabah-based party called Setia. The federal MP is Tun Daim Zainuddin. Not to be outsmarted, a Sabah business man, Mr Effendi Stephen, the son of the redoubtable Tun Fuad Stephen, has upped the ante and has promised to better any offer Tun Daim makes. The Setia president, Mr Peter Kadau, is now approached by the Bersatu protem president, Dato' Maidom Pansai, to allow its members to join Setia in a reverse takeover favoured by Malaysian corporate tycoons to obtain a stock exchange listing. With two suitors, Mr Kadau called a press conference in what looks like a typical call for a higher bid.

Informed sources in Kota Kinabalu tell me Mr Effendi Stephen works with the Sabah UMNO chief and state chief minister, Dato' Musa Aman, whose could face political oblivion if he does not deliver. Mr Stephen, as rotundly built as his late father was, has found a sudden interest in jogging, and is seen huffing and puffing his way with the jogging fanatic of a chief minister. He wants Setia and retire it, Sabah UMNO sources tell me, so no opposition party from the peninsular would sneak into Sabah by the backdoor and destroy its chances in the general election.

But Sabah UMNO is caught in a cleft stick. A little known party called Pasok insists the coming Sabah election should be to restore Sabah dignity. Hence its call for a Sabah for Sabahans has hit fertile ground of an understated statewide move to keep UMNO, Keadilan, DAP, PAS and MCA out of Sabah. The Pasok president, Mr Clestfus, has suggested to the Bersekutu president, Mr Barman Langkap, that their two parties merge with Setia to keep the federal parties out. This has complicated the negotiations Mr Stephen and Tun Daim have with Setia. And it looks as if for once principle would override principal.

If this were all, Sabah UMNO could well have got what it wanted. There is more. The civil servants are fed up with federal interference. They look upon the federal parties and civil servants as interlopers out to keep Sabahans on a tight leash. To make matters worse, the Sabah Foundation - to Sabahans what Petronas is to Peninsular Malaysians - sacked 60 per cent of its staff. Rumblings in Sabah suggest many of them would stand as independents, with the widespread belief even in Sabah UMNO many could win.

This pro-Sabah view could also put the non-Sabah BN parties at risk. Some leaders in Keadilan and DAP seriously consider standing as candidates for a locally based parties. They have the same difficulty with Kuala Lumpur as Sabah UMNO have. Kuala Lumpur wants to run their lives, and regard Sabah as an offshoot of their nationwide strategy, and any help from Kuala Lumpur would only come if it fits into their grand strategy. All it has done is to strengthen Sabah nationalism. Lest Sabah BN forget, the Muslims in Sabah feel they are taken for a ride as the Kadazan-Dusin communities feel. If Kuala Lumpur is not careful, the result would be what it fears most.

Besides, our old acquaintance, corruption, is so blatant that even Sabahans are fed up with it. The Sabah Land Development Board is one. Its chairman reportedly took RM13 million from its coffers to settle an old business debt and to keep a few ringgit for his retirement. The Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Mahathir Mohamed, is aware of it. The Anti-Corruption Agency has cleared him, and he is rewarded with a seat in the Malaysian cabinet. The SLDB's chief executive officer was found to have RM92 million in his bank account. The ACA was called in. He remains in office. No action would be taken. The Attorney-General's Chambers is bluntly told he should not prosecute corruption cases involving the high and mighty without express permission.

The second refers to a highway the Sabah UMNO-led state government ordered built between Beaufort and Papar. It was to cost RM200 million. The highway is not completed but work done so far exceeds RM600 million. When this was brought to the deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's attention, he promised to have ACA investigate. Sabahans ask why bother when nothing would come out of it, and as has happened so often in the past, the culprit would be handsomely rewarded by Kuala Lumpur.

This rise of Sabah nationalism and self-respect frightens Sabah UMNO. For good reason. It has decided it would contest 36 state constituencies. The Kadazan-Dusun constituency would have 18, the balance to the Chinese parties in the BN. This unfair division of state constituencies which favour the Muslims and the non-Kadazun-Dusun races has given rise to the spectre of massive desertions after the elections if Sabah UMNO retains power. No one is prepared to speculate how the elections would fare. How strong this anti-federal feeling is unclear, but that it grows is in no doubt. Kadazan-Dusun leaders in Sabah UMNO, Sabah BN and the opposition openly talk of deserting to Sabah based parties even if Sabah BN wins the election. It is this fear that led the Election Commission chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, to describe those who crossover to other parties before, during and after the polls, as having low morals.

Sabah BN and UMNO have woken up to its disaster in the making. As their plans stand, the Sabah legislative assembly would be dissolved in the next 48 hours, possible as early as tomorrow, 28 August 2003. There is some whiff of this. The Malaysian government-run radio and television is awash with Sabh and its importance to Malaysia, and how Sabah UMNO is best thing that has come to Sabah since sliced bread. It has also issued a strange order. On Friday night, Sabah BN state assemblymen are ordered to assemble at the homes of their party presidents to await further orders. Why they should is not told them. Only that they should be there. Meanwhile, BN leaders at the centre run hither and thither to see if they could turn defeat into victory. And more important, when defeat could turn into victory by a few strategic cross overs from the Opposition.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my