By : JOSEPH BINGKASAN
KOTA KINABALU: As the
countdown to the 13th general election edges towards a fixed date, the ruling
coalition is showing signs of strain with bigger parties attempting to muscle
in on the turf of their smaller partners.
Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS)
joined the queue lobbying to take over candidacy for the Pensiangan MP seat or
one of the two state seats – Nabawan and Sook – in the parliamentary
constituency.
The problem is, the
Pensiangan MP seat is now held by federal Deputy Minister of Natural Resources
and Environment Joseph Kurup who helms Barisan Nasional coalition partner Parti
Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS).
It is well known that there
is little love lost between PBS and PBRS and now the frayed threads that hold
the Umno-led ruling coalition are being exposed once again as they always are
before an election.
To gain a higher profile in
the state assembly, PBS headed by Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan
is also laying claim to another state seat that comes under the Keningau
parliamentary constituency.
Pairin is Keningau MP as
well as Tambunan state assembly representative. The two other state seats
within his parliamentary constituency, Liawan and Bingkor, are shared by Umno
and PBS spin-off, the United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation
(Upko).
Sairin Karno of Umno is the
Liawan representative and Upko’s Justin Guka sits in Bingkor so based on the
coalition’s power structure, Guka’s seat is the target as PBS plays second
fiddle to Umno in any realignment of seat allocation in that parliamentary
constituency.
Over in Pensiangan, the
state seats of Nabawan and Sook are held by Bobby Ah Fang Suan of Upko and
Ellron Angin of PBRS respectively. Here PBRS is in PBS crosshairs.
The problem is Kurup who won
the MP seat uncontested in the 2008 election is the sole MP from the party
while Angin is the only assemblyman for the party in the 60-members State
Legislative Assembly.
PBS’s demand for the extra
seats came during the annual general meetings of the PBS divisions of
Pensiangan, Sook, Bingkor and Liawan recently.
The calls were made with the
full support of Pairin, and the motions were quickly endorsed by him as logical
as he said the constituencies were traditionally the stronghold of his party
Since It Was Formed In 1985.
In fact PBS controlled
almost all the state and parliamentary seats until Pairin’s government, then in
the opposition, was toppled by the BN in 1994 when it won just 25 of the 48
state assembly seats.
Umno Showing Claws
The party’s elected
representatives, seeing the writing on the wall, jumped ship as a matter of
political survival.
Kurup was among them. He
ditched PBS to form PBRS. Other formed new political or joined Umno.
PBS delegates of the Pensiangan
and Sook divisions under the leadership of former MP Bernard Maraat have long
memories and want the party to be given at least one of the two seats in the
next election.
However, another shark in
the form of Umno is circling.
The main component in the
ruling coalition which already has the giant share of state and parliamentary
seats in Sabah, registered its intention to make a bid to takeover the
Pensiangan constituency or one of the state seats under its jurisdiction.
Kurup responded to the implied
threat that should he be dropped, BN could expect an exodus of PBRS members out
to support the opposition in the election.
Maraat, on the other hand
announced that if the seat was given to Umno to contest, he would offer to
contest as a BN-friendly independent candidate.
Bingkor PBS division chief
Peter Jino Allion has claimed that the party is far more established in the
constituency compared with other BN component parties whose weakness was
demonstrated by a decline in votes in the past two elections.
He said the BN leadership
should not underestimate the opposition in Bingkor.
However, he was careful to
be respectful to Umno saying: “Bingkor PBS will support any BN candidate who
contested and would ensure the victory of the candidate.”
He suggested that the BN
leadership appoint party leaders in Bingkor and Liawan – who are not selected
as candidates – as a senator or an appointed member of the state legislative
assembly to strengthen PBS under Pairin’s leadership. (FMT)
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