By : JOE FERNANDEZ
THE QUARTER-CENTURY old Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) will not be distracted by any amount of criticism directed against it by the fledging opposition in the state. Such criticism includes the oft-repeated allegation that the party is merely a willing ‘tool’ in the state in the hands of the Peninsular Malaysia-based Umno.
“The PBS-Sabah Umno alliance is a formidable political force to be reckoned with in the state,” said Henrynus Amin, PBS secretary-general. “The opposition in Sabah is politically weak and fragmented. They would not stand a chance to win the state in the next General Election.”
The opposition can only win, stressed Henrynus, if it can break up the unity of the state Barisan Nasional (BN), in particular the PBS-Sabah Umno friendship. He does not see this happening considering the manner, for example, in which the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) treated Jeffrey Kitingan, a former vice-president.
Henrynus was breaking his silence amidst the on-going spate of criticisms directed at PBS, its president Joseph Pairin Kitingan in particular, in the local media and FaceBook.
He recalled that PBS was not new to confrontational politics and power politics but had now chosen, ‘rightly or wrongly’, co-operative politics. It’s not necessary, he added, for PBS to like Sabah Umno to engage with them. “We are a good friend of Sabah Umno today, not because of mutual attraction, but the mutual need for political survival.”
War, warned Henrynus, ‘should be the last resort’ and cited the book ‘The Art of War’, an ancient Chinese military treatise by Sun Tzu. “The best generals are those who achieve their war objectives through diplomacy,” he said in referring to the book. “There are times to fight if the circumstances call for it. Smart politicians always negotiate first and win over their enemies to their side.”
Likewise, he cautioned that Sabah Umno leaders will not change just because of the “cheap slurs and insults, just like the trash in FaceBook, thrown at them”.
The PBS secretary-general remains hopeful over the party’s political alliance with Sabah Umno. He bases this confidence on the fact that Umno members and leaders in the state are Sabahans just like those in PBS.
“They are our flesh and blood, our friends and relatives with the same fears, desires, goals and vision,” he ventured. “What is needed is a common denominator to be able to bring them on board the wider vision of a united Sabah.”
PBS, Henrynus conceded, had chosen the path of friendship with Sabah Umno not only as a matter of choice but political strategy on the basis of “common interest and no permanent foes or allies”. In that sense, PBS being in BN “has nothing to do with being tools of Umno” or being “subservient to them”, as insinuated by critics, but “ensures PBS’s political survival”, he said.
He attributed the current state of affairs in the state’s politics to the party’s own leaders whom Pairin had groomed but “they had abandoned him (in 1994)”. “It’s amazing how easy it is (for some people) to forget history. PBS almost single-handedly took on the might of Umno at one time,” pointed out Henrynus. “PBS was not defeated at the ballot box.”
Re-visiting the issue, the PBS secretary-general confessed that the party’s return to the BN (23 Jan 2002) was not an easy one for Pairin to accept. The PBS leader had to “swallow his pride solely to protect, shield and serve his people”, he recalled. “He (Pairin) knew the people would be loyal to him if he were to lead them from outside the mainstream of development, but at what cost to the people whom he loved.”
Henrynus claimed that the process of uniting and consolidating the people of Sabah through BN has begun with PBS back in the fold. He rules out a turning back and that the party has “sealed its fate”, again rightly or wrongly, by returning to the BN “and there should be no regrets”.
“Critics have called for PBS to quit BN and join the opposition,” noted Henrynus. “Their pathetic calls merely reflect their political ignorance.”
PBS, pledged its secretary-general, “would not pick a fight that they know they would not win” since that would be tantamount to “political suicide”.
At the same time, Henrynus admitted that “not everything is well in BN”. He cited the main issues as power-sharing, defending and restoring the state’s rights, and elements in Sabah Umno issuing identity cards to illegal immigrants. The party, he said, is also not oblivious to what is happening around it, especially the trend among the young and urban voters.
“PBS is not saying that Umno (in Sabah) is perfect,” Henrynus hastened to add. “They have their faults and weaknesses.”
Still, PBS remains cautiously optimistic that its policy of constructive engagement with Umno will bear fruit when the party’s political vision is accommodated within the mainstream BN agenda.
Moving forward, he assured that the party remained aware of the people’s sentiments on various long standing issues in the state. He cited some of them as the National Cabotage Policy, freedom of religion and illegal immigration. These, among others, topped the party’s agenda, he said.
The PBS Government fell in early 1994, on the back of massive defections, exactly one month after winning an unprecedented fourth term in office. At that time, PBS had been four years outside the BN which it left on the eve of the 1990 General Elections.
While some PBS defectors joined Umno, others formed their own political parties and joined the BN. These were the United PasokMomogun KadazanDusunMurut Organisation (Upko) led by Bernard Giluk Dompok and the Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) led by Joseph Kurup who had no defectors with him.
Jeffrey left PBS with six state assemblypersons and wandered in and out of PBS (twice and rejected the third time), PBRS (twice) including for less than 30 minutes the first time, the Angkatan Keadilan Rakyat (Akar) – an early PBS breakaway -- and, for two days, Umno. Akar has since merged with Umno.
Earlier, just days before the 1994 nomination day, Yong Teck Lee left PBS and formed the Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) within 48 hours to team up with Umno but managed to win only three seats. Sapp left BN on 17 Sept 2008 claiming a long list of unresolved grievances but critics think that it may be because the party found itself out in the cold with the return of PBS to the ruling coalition.
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