Ansari tests PKR’s sincerity
PRE-EMPTIVE MOVE: State PKR leader names candidates early as a show of ‘autonomy’
Ansari’s move appears to pre-empt the likely possibility that incumbent Tuaran MP Datuk Seri Wilfred Bumburing and incumbent Beaufort MP Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin, who threw their weight behind the PKR last year, might have their own list of prefered candidates for the seven seats.
WHILE the Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) is raring to face the 13th General Election as a united and cohesive team, the opposition appears to be fragmented despite their common objective of unseating the ruling coalition.
As it stands, the election is expected to see two opposition camps — one comprising of peninsula-based parties and the other Sabah-based parties — taking on the BN in the land below the wind.
This follows the failure of the loose coalition of opposition parties made up of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), DAP and Pas to reach a compromise with local-based Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) and the Sabah chapter of the State Reform Party (STAR) on a single candidate to fight BN in every seat.
After being rejected as “small parties without much support” by PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee-led SAPP and Sabah Star headed by political nomad Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, have agreed in principle to cooperate in the election.
There is also a possibility of a fourth force made up of PKR leaders who will likely leave the party if their demands to be fielded as candidates are ignored by the PKR leadership.
State PKR stalwart Ansari Abdullah had last week announced the names of divisional leaders as candidates in seven parliamentary constituencies, contending that they have been working very hard for the party over the last five years.
Ansari’s move appears to pre-empt the likely possibility that incumbent Tuaran MP Datuk Seri Wilfred Bumburing and incumbent Beaufort MP Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin, who threw their weight behind the PKR last year, might have their own list of prefered candidates for the seven seats.
Word has been making the rounds that Anwar had given Bumburing and Lajim the power to choose PKR candidates for several parliamentary and state seats as part of the deal for them to ditch the BN.
It is learnt that the seven parliamentary seats eyed by divisional leaders aligned to Ansari are said to be seats Bumburing and Lajim have asked to be given a say on who should be the candidate.
The seven included Ansari, who declared himself as the PKR candidate for the Tuaran parliamentary seat which Bumburing as its former MP hopes to defend.
Bumburing and Lajim are said to have started scouting for potential candidates long before they announced their decision to hop into the opposition.
Many PKR divisional leaders, who claimed to have been working very hard to strengthen the party at the grassroots level, had from the start feared that the alleged power given by Anwar to Bumburing and Lajim might mean they would be sidelined and not considered as candidates.
“I had sensed it from the beginning that Bumburing and Lajim’s move to support Pakatan may throw a spanner in the works of the opposition’s hope of making an impact in Sabah,” said a PKR divisional leader who spoke on condition of anonymity.
When revealing the names of the seven proposed candidates, Ansari had boldly said that he expected Anwar and the party leadership of Pas and DAP to honour their commitment and assurance that matters involving Sabah will be decided by Sabahans.
“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.
“This is a test of whether the Pakatan Rakyat party leadership is sincere in its promise to give us autonomy,” Ansari said, claiming that the candidates have long been identified, as far back as two years ago.
Speculation is rife that Ansari and his group may either contest as independents or align themselves with SAPP if their demands are ignored by the PKR leadership.
As for the BN, it is all systems go in its quest to keep Sabah as the the ruling coalition’s fixed-deposit, although it may face some tough challenges in several constituencies.
