KOTA KINABALU, June 14 — The threat of Sabah Barisan Nasional MPs crossing over in numbers to the Pakatan Rakyat could be subsiding, reducing Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s hopes of forcing the collapse of the Abdullah administration soon.
The reason: Some of the MPs are convinced that if the Opposition comes to power, it will only have a majority of a few seats in Parliament and will have a tenuous grip on power. In such a fragile political situation, the federal government will not be able to offer Sabah the security and stability that it needs to develop.
Instead of crossing over to the Pakatan Rakyat, the view that is gaining traction among Sabah politicians is the need for them to revive the United Sabah National Organisation (Usno) or strengthen Sabah-based political parties and contest the next general election as a coalition. After achieving victory, this coalition will decide whether to join the BN or Pakatan Rakyat.
A former Sabah BN MP told The Malaysian Insider: “There is a strong Sabah-for-Sabahans sentiment at the moment. The politicians think that they will be in a better bargaining position if they contest the election under their own banner rather than the BN flag.
“Some of them think that election could be held as early as 2010. So they are prepared to wait.’’
Chief among the Sabah-for-Sabahans proponent is Datuk Yong Teck Lee, president of the Sabah Progressive Party. He craves more autonomy for Sabah and wants Labuan to be returned to the state.
The former chief minister has been unhappy with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for not appointing more Sabah politicians to senior positions in the Cabinet. On a personal level he is frustrated, telling friends that he is a president of a BN component party yet does not have any position at the federal level.
Yong has given Abdullah until August to resolve several outstanding issues in Sabah. After that deadline, there will be no guarantee that SAPP members will remain in the BN, he warned.
Since issuing that caution, Abdullah has announced the dismantling of the Sabah Federal Development Department, a RM1 billion special allocation for rural development in the state and a Cabinet committee under Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to tackle Sabah’s long-standing illegal immigrant and refugee problem.
These goodies have not appeased Yong. He has told friends that he will pull SAPP out of the BN soon, and the two SAPP MPs will become independents in Parliament. This move will reduce the BN’s majority in Parliament to 54 seats.
Several BN MPs who were approached by Anwar and representatives from the Pakatan Rakyat are also mulling over the idea of reviving Usno, the party founded by Tun Mustapha Datu Harun. Like Yong, they believe that they will be in a stronger bargaining position if they contest the next general election under Sabah political colours.
The threat of the cross over is also subsiding because Umno strongman Datuk Anifah Aman is pleased that steps are being taken to speed up the transfer of power from Abdullah to Najib.
A staunch supporter of the DPM, he has told his inner circle that he will be willing to stay on in the BN as long as Najib takes over as the prime minister soon. Anifah felt slighted by Abdullah for only appointing him as a deputy minister after Election 2008. He rejected the appointment.
Despite these changes in sentiment, Anwar remains confident that he can snare BN MPs. In an interview with Reuters, he said that there was growing support in Sabah and Sarawak.
“We do have the numbers but the issue is when to move on the no-confidence vote … It can be weeks to months,” he said.
“We have adequate numbers to secure a simple majority in the House. What we need, of course, is a comfortable majority … There is a general sentiment among the general population wanting this change.”
Sabah and Sarawak parties delivered 54 seats to the BN but Anwar has been wooing the opposition with promises of an increase in oil royalties and more representation at the federal level.
Anwar said inflation, economic mismanagement and fuel price hikes had turned the public against Abdullah, encouraging lawmakers to defect, but he declined to give names and numbers. “Very soon they will appear and be known in public,” he said.
(Malaysian Insider)
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