BICKERING
....The constant bickering over trivial matters by the opposition has left
politically aware Sabahans with a dilemma over who and which party to choose in
the 13th general election.
By : MYLES TOGOH
AS VOTERS in Sabah ponder
their options ahead of the looming 13th general election, it is no secret that
they are caught between a rock and a hard place – join the opposition to
dethrone the ruling coalition in Malaysia or support the local parties in the
hope of getting more out for Sabah.
Amid the murky politics of
the vast, resource-rich but paradoxically poverty-ridden state where money is
the main political arbitrator, many Sabahans are looking for change.
Fed up with what they see as
Sabah’s wealth subsidising Peninsular Malaysians, they are not overly keen on
supporting the ruling Barisan Nasional. Neither are they comfortable with the
fact that the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition is made up of peninsula-based
parties and as such have little or no understanding or sensitivity of Sabah’s
real problems.
Voters are conscious that
the most pressing issue in Sabah is the alarming rate of poverty and
inequality.
The state is still the
poorest in Malaysia. Government statistics claim the 58% of poverty in the population
in 1976 was reduced to 16% in 2002.
However, it is perceived and
believed that the poverty level is much higher than these official figures.
The World Bank’s Malaysia
Economic Monitor 2010 report estimated that 40% of the population in Sabah were
poor and some claim that the figure should read 60% of the population.
The top two contenders
claiming “local” status requesting Sabahans’ sympathy and support are the Sabah
Progressive Party (SAPP) led by former chief minister Yong Teck Lee and the State
Reform Party (STAR) led by maverick local politician Jeffrey Kitingan. Both say
the answer to this is to keep Sabah’s wealth in-house.
But nothing is as it has
been in the Bornean Malaysian state where hundreds of thousands of “new
Malaysians” have gained electoral rights and diluted the power of the by and
large Christian native population.
Umno is the clear
beneficiary of a controversial citizenship-for-votes strategy which was
allegedly put in place in the early 1990s to dispose the native-led government
of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) in 1994, and is currently under investigation by a
royal commission.
BN’s covert tactic
With that illegal but astute
move, the four state parties – PBS, Upko, LDP and PBRS – play second fiddle to
Umno and indeed in the future to larger BN components like MCA and Gerakan as
well.
Former premier Dr Mahathir
Mohamad once even said that the BN does not need the support of Sabah and
Sarawak to form the federal government. He had to eat his words after the 2008
general election when the BN only managed to cling to power with the help,
ironically, of Sabah voters who today feel they are being ripped off.
The coming election is now
seen as a window of opportunity. The ball is with the opposition, certainly
when Sabah voters looking for change are concerned.
So far the opposition in the
state – made up of SAPP, STAR and Pakatan Rakyat coalition of PKR, DAP and PAS
– has refused to play ball, akin to a failure to see the bigger picture as some
observers find.
All the parties in play are
making pompous sounds that they have the voters’ support and are the only ones
capable of safeguarding Sabah’s rights.
In Sabah, DAP has
aggressively pushed its view that those not with it in the Pakatan coalition
are against it, which has put the party in direct confrontation with both SAPP
and STAR, which are not comfortable cementing bonds with what they see as
“Malayan” parties.
This may, however, be their
only option to remain relevant in the country’s volatile political landscape.
Trying to keep all doors
open, the STAR under Jeffrey – and its Borneo Agenda that will reform
Malaysia’s unequal power structures – has indicated that it is neither for nor
against either the BN or Pakatan.
Up to earlier this year it
was tilting in favour of the opposition coalition, but as the year came to an
end, Jeffrey said STAR would also work with the BN if it was given another
mandate at the polls.
This has been taken by some
observers as an admission that the party can be a poisoned chalice for the opposition
at the polls given that the wealthy ruling coalition can buy out the party and
its leaders as it demonstrated in the past.
While Jeffrey has pressed
his call for autonomy for the Borneo states when he boldly brought up the issue
of secession when proposing the formation of a Malaysia Borneo nation, he is
not the only one pressing for regional autonomy for East Malaysian states.
Local and national Pakatan
leaders have also jumped on the train of regional autonomy as a bait to capture
Sabah and Sarawak. The opposition coalition has pledged to honour the 1963
agreement in which Sabah and Sarawak helped to form Malaysia.
Bickering over ‘trivial
matters’
Such promise is largely a
response to the strong undercurrent that exists in both states of their second-class
status within the federation; pledges that sound attractive but are a far cry
from being easily achievable.
“It’s like the story about
people squabbling over who’s going to clean the windows in a house that is not
even built,” said a retired civil servant-turned-businessman who has joined the
opposition and is disheartened by its constant bickering over what he calls
“trivial matters” in the context of what it is trying to achieve – dethrone the
mighty BN rule for the first time in the country’s history.
The pensioner, who requested
anonymity, said this week’s open quarrel between DAP and SAPP highlighted the
predicament of voters in the state eager for change.
He was referring to a
statement by a second echelon DAP official here who said his party would not be
guided by Anwar’s on-going talks with SAPP.
With Anwar, who is also
Pakatan component PKR chief and the opposition’s choice for prime minister, the
DAP’s stance may be reflective of what is in store should Pakatan march all the
way to Putrajaya.
As both Yong and Jeffrey
keep saying, the political structure and governance systems of Malaysia and the
strongman rule must change to prevent the rampant corruption at all levels in
the state and country from persisting.
And they believe they are
the ones who can lead the way by keeping the opposition coalition at arm’s
length.
Sabahans tending towards
either SAPP or STAR are aware of the many twists and turns both leaders have
made in the past and are now musing if they are supporting a lost cause. (FMT)
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