IN exactly a week’s time, next Saturday, Sept 26, 2020, Sabah will go to the polls for the 16th time. It will be a snap election for 73 assemblypersons to form the 16th state assembly. There are 447 candidates from 16 political parties and 56 independents; a record of sorts.
The contest will mainly be focused between Warisan Plus, led by current Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Shafie Apdal, which is being challenged by Umno-led GRS (Gabungan Rakyat Sabah), and a host of splinter parties too many to name, probably mostly insignificant and would die a natural death after the elections.
Politics in Sabah has always been highly volatile and we have seen frequent drastic swings and changes during their state elections ever since the days of the first election held in 1967.
I have been in and out of Sabah since the mid-1970s and in my over 40 years’ acquaintance with its people, culture, and politics, I can say that unlike Sarawak we have witnessed many upheavals and changes in their government throughout this short period of political history in the state.
This time round the winds of change are definitely in the air. The feedback I have gathered from both sides of the political divide and from the man on the street have been unanimous that Shafie’s coalition of Warisan Plus looks likely to sweep the polls, and a landslide can be expected.
Fresh in the minds of every voter in Sabah are media images and videos of those 31 state assemblymen together with Tan Sri Musa Aman rushing to the Head of State’s residence with their signed statutory declarations that they had lost confidence in Shafie as chief minister and had wanted to overthrow his government, a rather similar situation to what had happened in the federal capital Kuala Lumpur earlier in the year in late February.
Sabahans and indeed any right thinking citizen had strongly condemned such illegality, especially coming from a man who had just recently been freed by a court on alleged corruption charges that many are of the opinion he was guilty of. The court of public opinion was rightfully outraged and had felt cheated of justice being served.
The only way now it would seem to every single voter is to show their displeasure, rage, and anger at the polling booths, and this they will definitely do come Sept 26.
Shafie’s Warisan Plus is campaigning on the platform of “We are here to build a nation, not a particular race or religion”, very much reminiscent of Nelson Mandela’s adage. Unlike previous leaders from the past from across the water, his slogan doesn’t sound hollow or unrealistic to Sabahans. Impressively, he leads a coalition of many races with diverse backgrounds and immense experience and has the full support of the two other political giants in the form of DAP and PKR.
In the two years and three months since he became Sabah’s 15th chief minister, the 64-year-old has changed the way that the state has been governed, a vast difference from the regimes of Tun Mustapha Harun and Tan Sri Harris Salleh.
According to reports, he submitted more than 10,000 land grants to residents without titles; planned innovative programmes; opened up as many as 83,100 new job opportunities, and had recognised the multi-faceted religious and racial make-up of the state through minor details like adding on to Christian holidays and such.
Shafie has recognised the Unified Examination Certificate; added on a Sabah Education Bureau and allocated 2,000 acres for its own university; revamped the government agencies on human resources; and gone to China, Japan, and Indonesia to attract new investments.
In the other corner, his strongest competitor for the job of chief minister, in the form of Bung Moktar Radin of Umno has these credentials to his name: in Parliament he has shown himself to be rude, a loudmouth, a sexist who’s disrespectful to women, a racist who deigns to divide more than unite the many races, seen gambling at a casino, and most of all has been charged with corruption in an RM2.8 million Felcra case. He has made a mockery not just of himself but as an MP and Malaysian citizen. That’s the best person Umno could come up with. It looked more like throwing in the towel to me.
I asked around among my Sabah friends and relatives, and those active in politics as well as the man on the street, and here were some of the comments and feedback I received.
A well-established businessman A Teo said, “Malaysians, and we Sabahans too, are sick and tired of this backdoor government in the midst of the current Covid-19 crisis. This election will be about integrity and will be against party hopping for self-interests!”
Another very old friend, Eric Thein, who travels around Sabah a lot and has much influence had this to say, “Warisan Plus is moving towards a landslide victory. I have spoken to all my contacts from Tawau, Lahad Datu, Kunak, Semporna, Sandakan, Kudat, Kota Belud, Tuaran, Ranau, as well as in the interior and in the KK city areas. It’s looking bright and positive for Warisan and they’re all talking about the stench of barbecued frogs, who’ll be losing their deposits as you travel around Sabah today!”
A final one from an insider, someone deep inside Sabah politics, who had served under the past regime of Harris Salleh and is now a strong campaigner and supporter of PKR, “There’s a massive split in the opposition; Muhyiddin had proposed Hajiji but Umno Sabah is resisting; PBS has no clear leader as Max Ongkili had a massive stroke. They’re all contesting against each other.”
In other words, once the opposition is in total disarray and completely disunited, it hastens their demise and will help the caretaker government immensely.
Shafie’s message of hope brings with it a vision that the state has to move forward to a more comprehensive all-inclusive needs-based system where all Malaysians, especially those in Sabah and Sarawak, are prioritised and provided with the best education, training, and equipped to face the future.
The results of the Sabah elections might have a strong impact on Sarawak and the timing of its own state polls due before Sept 7, 2021 – a year from now. It will be a wake-up call and a harbinger of what can, may, or will happen in Sarawak, but my personal opinion is that its effect either way will not be powerful enough to make a difference.
Look at it this way, Sabah has overthrown past state governments the likes of Tun Mustapha, Harris, and Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan; and it didn’t make any difference at all when it came to our own state elections.
What makes you think it’d be any different now? I pray that I’d be proven wrong for once.
Comments can reach the writer via [email protected].