Mutiny in Sabah Pakatan Rakyat
Disclosure by ‘Gang of Seven’ rankles; Allies fume over what they claim is an unauthorised statement
Alexander Chen, Borneo Insider
The Pakatan Rakyat-Plus coalition in Sabah seems to be cracking at the seams ahead of the 13th general election.
This is all due to a pre-emptive strike by a group of Parti Keadilan Rakyat Sabah veterans led by the wily Ansari Abdullah to announce a shortlist of seven candidates on Thursday.
The revelation caught everyone by surprise, including Ansari’s PKR colleagues as an official announcement was only expected today (Friday) at the earliest.
But knowing that he was most likely not going to be in the list of candidates, Ansari and the ‘Gang of Seven’ jumped the gun to stake their claim.
This produced a curt response from a PKR official in Kuala Lumpur: “Ansari must be out of his mind,” he said when informed of the statement.
An aide of DAP Kota Kinabalu MP, Hiew King Cheu went ballistic at the news he read in Borneo Insider and called to say, “that’s not true. That list must be a figment of imagination by him; no that’s not what has been discussed.”
The Angkatan Perpaduan Sabah (APS) was not amused either, with a Wilfred Bumburing assistant saying that Ansari and gang were only saying things to spite the opposition.
Anthony polled a credible 7.830 votes in 2008 when he stood as a PKR candidate against eventual winner, Maximus Ongkili of the BN.
“Ansari knows that Tuaran has been allocated to APS and that Wilfred is the candidate while Marudu will be contested by Maijol Mahap,” he said.
He added: “Ansari has never won an election so he is hallucinating. His list is one that he and his cohorts must have made up themselves. Definitely it is not an official one but disclosed early so as to embarrass the PR leadership, especially Anwar Ibrahim and Wilfred.”
On Thursday, Ansari told a press conference that he would be the PR choice for Tuaran and Anthony Mandiau would be re-fielded in Kota Marudu.
The others he named were Dr Chong Eng Leong (Sepangar), Mazhry Nasir (Putatan), Mursalim Tanjul (Kudat), Saidil Semoi (Kota Belud) and Jonathan Yassin, the division chief for PKR Ranau, who is also his brother-in-law, though better known for having a hand in the Anwar-Huguan Siou fiasco.
Tongue in cheek, he said: “In line with the promise for autonomy (by Pakatan Rakyat leadership), we have taken the liberty to release the names of the seven candidates that have been picked by the respective divisions.
Eng Leong: Another luckless politician whose favourite topic is the illegal immigrants when not indulging in his favourite past-time.
“We are very confident that Datuk Seri Anwar and the party leaderships of PAS and DAP will honour their commitment that matters involving Sabah will be decided by Sabahans.
“This is a test of whether the party leadership is sincere in its promise to give us autonomy. We are very confident that the party will pass this test,” he said.
