LESSONS FROM BATU SAPI

By: DANIEL JOHN JAMBUN

THE Batu Sapi By-Election (pronounce Buy-Election) had come and gone and while there are parties out there who are still nursing their wounds, several hard lessons had been learned from the experience.

As I see it, the opposition parties, PKR and SAPP, had made a serious blunder by not being able to compromise on having a pact. The whole mistake was the arrogance and overconfidence of both parties in thinking they could both win.

As the result shows, even the combined votes of PKR and SAPP combined couldn’t beat the BN votes. But that doesn’t mean that had they been a straight fight, the BN would have won as well.

With only PKR or only SAPP facing the might of the BN, and all the opposition leaders and supporters campaigning there, combining into a synergy, there would have been a high potential for an upset. Unfortunately, we are yet to grow out of our political childishness, and fast, before the next general elections!

The other blunder that people are talking about now is the action by many PKR leaders who, long before nomination day, warned certain PKR leaders, not to even dare set foot in Sandakan.

These unwanted, or banned, party leaders were the 12 ‘apostles,’ which included myself. Datuk Dr. Jeffrey and Christina Liew were also not welcome to contribute their energy. It was a strange situation where lack of maturity and adamant refusal to go for reconciliation for the sake of the party ruled the day.

Even Datuk Kalakau Untol and his people had to leave Sandakan under threat of hooligans. Haji Ansari could have made the reconciliation, handing over the olive branch, but it was clear that he and the Sandakan leaders had absolutely no trust in the pro-Jeffrey leaders, insisting that they could win the seat on their own.

Even Datuk Seri Anwar didn’t bat an eyelid about the whole awkward situation. Even the Sandakan PKR leaders couldn’t be managed to co-operate, out of angry objection to an outsider candidate coming to their area.

So the PKR campaign was also badly marred by altercations involving punch-ups. The incident of Haji Ansari falling into the sea twice was at first comical but later proved to be to his advantage as the accidents highlighted BN failings in developing the area.

It needs to be put on record too that Christina Liew had offered to be the candidate, assuring the party of very strong backings from several sponsors. With her as the candidate, it would have been an almost straight fight between two women candidates, with Datuk Yong Teck Lee trailing far behind. And who can be certain that Christina wouldn’t be a victor by now?

As for SAPP, it spearheaded the campaign with rousing noise and colours, leading with the visible campaign materials. Yong’s oratory was unchallenged. His objective was to prove to all parties that he still got it.

He wanted to be able to tell BN, and PR, that he had the influence and worth negotiating with. He had once proposed that PKR contested only the parliamentary seats and SAPP take all the 60 state seats. The suddenly in this election he decided it was due time to forget that proposal and contested in a parliamentary seat instead!

He believed his strategy of not joining the PR had been the best approach, to put SAPP in a position where the party had open choices to negotiate with the BN as well as the PR. He believed the party’s strength and loud rhetoric since leaving the BN would have given SAPP and edge as the third corner of the political triangle in Sabah.

Unfortunately, as they say, sticking to the middle of the road normally gets you knocked over by a several vehicles at once, or one after another. Not taking sides has its advantages but even more disadvantages, the biggest being that people don’t trust you.

He deemed Ansari to be of someone with no locus-standi to debate with him and that he was worthy only for the likes of Anwar Ibrahim and Datuk Seri Musa Aman. He felt he was too big for PKR and ended up far behind PKR in terms of both, even with the advantage of being a former Chief Minister and much better machinery than PKR’s.

Because of this ambivalence in politics, SAPP had been seen as trying to play with both sides. Hence Yong candidacy was mostly seen as an attempt at sealing his political worth through a victory, with which he would have said to BN, “Now, let’s talk!” and to PR, “So, what can you offer me now!”

His defeat at a poor third place, therefore, has been a great relief to many. Now we can proceed with the idea of the two-party system and let the double-minded go on with their lame games.

I have thought long and hard about what undoing actually brought Yong in this ‘Buy-Election’. The real pictures and events will surface later, but his biggest blunder in the election was his remark that his criticisms against the government weren’t targeted at the Prime Minister but only at the Barisan Nasional.

That remark was a big foot in the mouth, because it sounded like I don’t hate your father but I hate your family. The voters asked, what has he really got in mind? To placate the Prime Minister to ensure the door of Putrajaya will be open for him later? Isn’t he planning to join the BN if he wins? It as a classic gaff similar to LDP’s “I love BN but I can’t work with the CM” statement, except Yong’s was worse because it betrayed his real agenda which he had been trying to hide all this while.

Now that he had said the excuse that he was facing two political giants, and that the result was unexpected (read: shocking) and it is only the beginning, it can easily be the beginning of the end. SAPP needs to review its political strategy.

Will taking the middle road still work for the future? If not what are SAPP’s options? Isn’t it best to join PR before it’s too late, early enough to align positions and shares before the big guns from BN components come in before the next general elections? As of now, it seems to be the best step to take, even if Yong will have to be prepared to sell short when knocking shyly at PR’s doors.