Minds of Sabah politicians on next polls

He cited the return of Labuan (now a Federal Territory), removing socio-economic imbalances between Peninsula and Sabah/Sarawak, 20% oil royalties, Borneonisation of the civil service as among the rights that were lost.

Leong Sai Ho, Malaysian Mirror

Although the next general election in the country is at least three to four years away, politicians in Sabah seem to have their minds very much focused on it.

Whilst an opposition party is already talking about the possibility of “winning big”, a member of the BN coalition is publicly clamouring for more seats to be allocated to it.

“SAPP predicts big win in next election”, proclaims a headline in a Borneo Post report on Monday that says, “The next general election may be years from now, but the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) is already predicting a big victory.”

President of the party Yong Teck Lee said SAPP was confident of achieving “great success” in the next general election because the people in Sabah had now realized that only a local party was able to fight for their rights.

SAPP's fight for autonomy

Yong was asked to elaborate on these reports in the local media, particularly the basis for his prediction of “great success”. He told the Malaysian Mirror today that achieving great success and predicting a big victory meant that SAPP was hopeful of contesting and winning a majority of state seats.

He said the basis of SAPP contesting a majority of state seats was the party’s fight for autonomy.

He explains: “It does not make sense for a party to fight for autonomy and yet contest only a minority of seats, meaning that the formation of the state government would then be dependent on non-local parties currently competing for the same turf.”

Yong, a former Sabah chief minister, said if a local-based party could secure enough parliamentary seats, say above 15 out of 25 for the state, then this Sabah party could play “a meaningful role in securing its long-lost rights”.

He cited the return of Labuan (now a Federal Territory), removing socio-economic imbalances between Peninsula and Sabah/Sarawak, 20% oil royalties, Borneonisation of the civil service as among the rights that were lost.

The SAPP president also believed that his party’s non-racial approach was more acceptable in the Borneo states than in the Peninsula.

When asked what he meant by his statement on “the wind of change”, Yong noted that the political ground at grassroots level was ready for change to a new political scenario.

“BN and its predecessor the Alliance had dominated national politics for over 50 years. But this is changing. All the six by-elections in Peninsula Malaysia had been lost by the BN.

“This was unthinkable in the past. For SAPP, being the main local party outside the BN, this is a change that will propel it to a position of an autonomous state government.”

(Photo above – Yong, with MP for Tawau Dr Chua Soon Bui and MP for Sepanggar Eric Majimbun on his right distributing goodies to villagers at Kg Cenderamata 2, Likas, Sabah, during their visit there on Sunday.)

'Real viable choice for people'

In June last year, the SAPP whilst still a member of BN, sent shock waves across the nation by announcing at a press conference that it had lost confidence in the Prime Minister (who was then Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) and that its Members of Parliament would support a “No confidence” vote in Parliament the following week.

The party is now out of the BN coalition and is in the opposition. Many had expected it to join the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) grouping but it has decided to stay in the opposition on its own.

Since SAPP is neither in the BN now, nor is it PR, Yong said in his statement to the Malaysian Mirror today that his party offers “a real viable choice for the people”.

He, however, admitted that SAPP does not feel that victory at the next elections is a foregone conclusion. “It is just that there is a real chance, something that was impossible to achieve in the past.”

Another claim that he had made was that SAPP was gaining support from bumiputras. Yong said the basis for such a claim was that his party was continuously rebranding itself to be a state-wide, non-racial party.

“More and more new members joining our ranks, especially in areas where SAPP was non-existent such as Petagas, Nabawan, Kiulu, Tungku, Sook, Bingkor, Tamparuli, and Bongawan, all areas having bumiputra-majority seats.”

PBS asks for new seat

Speaking about seats, the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), led by Joseph Pairin Kitingan, is calling for another state seat to be created within the parliamentary area of Papar.

Presently, there are already two state seats there, Pantai Manis and Kawang, both represented by Umno Sabah, and PBS wants the third seat to be allocated to it.

Its chief information officer, Johnny Mositun (left), publicly declared that allocating PBS the seat was “apt because the party has been instrumental in ensuring Papar and the two state seats as the BN stronghold despite being represented by another party”.

At the same time, Mositun, who is also the deputy state assembly speaker, expressed the wish for PBS to take over the seats previously allocated by the BN to the SAPP, saying politely, “We are not making demands, but we only hope that the BN leadership can consider giving PBS the opportunity to wrest the seats for the coalition.”

When SAPP left the BN last year, it took two MPs and two state assemblymen out of the ruling coalition, although another two of its assemblymen decided to stay put with the BN by joining the Gerakan party.

Yong, in his statement today, also noted that the BN leadership knew that the BN and its components, especially Umno, must reform. But he did not see that happening, adding that “the unfriendly remarks, weak delivery system, party infighting, vested interest of their leaders are all apparent”.