Sabah, Sarawak joins list of states to watch

 

In 2008, it was supposed to be Pairin’s last time too. How many last time stunts is BN going to force Pairin to pull on the Orang Asal? 

Joe Fernandez 

Sabah Huguan Siou (Paramount Chief) Joseph Pairin Kitingan reportedly wanted to give way to the younger Kitingan, Jeffrey, in Keningau this time but apparently the Barisan Nasional (BN) insisted otherwise. Pairin’s intentions vis-a-vis Jeffrey may be a case of Janji Di Capati.

Jeffrey’s  supporters are hoping their hero won’t continue to be a glutton for punishment as usual and swear naively by his “blood is thicker than water” mantra which drives many up the wall, if not around the bend.

Young Turk Phillip Among, the Kepayan Star Chief, is among the more furious of the lot over the Huguan Siou continuing to be in politics. Phillip became famous, or rather notorious, for his shuttle diplomacy on the 16 Sept 2008 People’s Revolution stymied by Sodomy II.

Already, Pairin is singing the “I am still young and strong” theme song a la Anwar Ibrahim’s infamous “Sabah dah Goyang” dance jig.

He should not rejoice too soon.

Putrajaya has not made his position any easier either by extending a RM 250 million soft loan recently to the state government for a water treatment plant in Keningau. Why the need for a loan when the Federal Government is milking Sabah to the tune of RM 40-odd billion a year? This is like adding insult to injury.

Jeffrey has been going to town with the issue. He wants the Federal Government to pay for the water treatment plant and not burden the state government with the loan no matter how soft. He’s outraged that Putrajaya has positioned itself as an Ah Long of sorts to the state governments, in particular Sabah and Sarawak.

Pairin is maintaining a dignified, albeit offended, silence. He has previously accused the younger sibling of “not loving him like a brother” and even being downright kurang ajar! These must be new themes in politics. These things can only happen in Sabah.

Pairin is almost 75 and has been accused by the younger generation in particular of squatting on the people since early 2000 when PBS rejoined BN after a spell warming the opposition benches. The party had raised such hopes among the Opposition on both sides of the South China Sea. It looks like Pairin is in danger of degenerating into being another Samy Vellu who doesn’t know when to step down even when he has a loyalist brother who can take over from him and continue the family tradition of being in public service. Wither the Kitingan’s Magic of Camelot!

In 2008, it was supposed to be Pairin’s last time too. How many last time stunts is BN going to force Pairin to pull on the Orang Asal?

Unless Jeffrey stands in Keningau this time, the BN will continue to force Pairin to pull “the last time” stunt in Keningau over and over again.

Jeffrey’s long-standing beef with Pairin is that his elder brother has been politicising the position of Huguan Siou and causing disunity among the people. He wants Pairin to go and go now. Earlier, he was willing to allow Pairin to keep his Tambunan state seat as long as he wants, walking stick, dementia and alzheimer’s included. But Putrajaya is holding the man by his you-know-what and he fears the squeeze. The very thought of the squeeze is giving him the nightmares.

Jeffrey’s problem is that he lacks the killer instinct. He thinks that everyone he meets is a nice person. That’s how Anwar made use of him to build up the PKR membership in Sabah and took him for a ride. Pairin was furious.

Jeffrey’s time has come. The Huguan Siou and politics is an unhealthy mix. The matter should have been resolved in 1994 when it became clear that the Huguan Siou had become a divisive figure by continuing to meddle in politics.

Overall, the Orang Asal parties in BN — PBS, Upko, PBRS — are in deep sh.t over the illegals on the electoral rolls as revealed by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI). So, they came up in a panic with the gimmicky Gelombang Tataba. Jeffrey couldn’t help taking a dig in the local media at the three parties on the issue.

Tataba is the magical wand of power which PBS wielded from 1985 to 1994. So, what’s this Gelombang Tata all about? Is it a return to those glorious days in 1985 when Pairin, leading a 42-day old party, rubbed then Chief Minister Harris Salleh’s nose in the dirt?
Bernard Dompok of Upko also claims that his party would have pulled out from the BN if not for the RCI. He was virtually thumping his chest the other day. How brave? Cakap besar betul! Has the Bintulu to Kimanis gas pipeline project been completed? No wonder! Otherwise, Dompok is a good man, one of the more efficient Orang Asal leaders.

Pairin claims that he was instrumental behind the setting up of the RCI. Perhaps! Does he want a pat on the back for this? It was late in the day.

All three Orang Asal parties in BN want the MyKads in Sabah to be re-issued to purge the illegals on the electoral rolls and those who will be eligible some day.

How original and at a politically expedient time!

What’s the big deal about re-issuing the MyKad?

The ICs were constantly re-issued to cover up the tracks of those who handed out the document to the illegals. The tracks had to be covered up from 1963.

We have gone from the two sheet scrap of paper IC to the blue one, the Bunga Raya, the MyKad and now the Not So Smart MyKad. The illegals in Sabah, in Keningau ironically, were reportedly the first to get the MyKad.

Even so, defacto Law Minister Nazri said it was not possible to re-issue the MyKad in Sabah. So, does that mean the Not So Smart MyKad will be for all eternity. No more new versions? Why not scrap the MyKad system and just use our birth certificates, an identity for all including foreigners born in Malaysia, and which will indicate our citizenship status.

The communist terrorism, which necessitated the need for the IC system, has long ended with Vietnam. Why are we still bogged down by the MyKad system which isn’t practised by any other country in the world?

Luckily for the Orang Asal parties, PKR and Pas are washouts in Sabah.

PBS-breakaway Sapp is a nuisance.

This mosquito party would be lucky if it can keep Likas, Luyang and Tawau.

Sapp is an irrelevant party seeking desperately to re-invent itself on the “principle” that local parties should contest the majority of the state seats, while the parti parti Malaya can have the majority of the state’s parliamentary seats. At this rate, the people of Borneo will no longer have a voice in the Borneo Parliament.

Dap is set to win Kota Kinabalu besides retaining Sri Tanjung and may take Sandakan if the mood among the Chinese and urban electorate is anything to go by.

It’s expected that the BN will not do as well in Sabah and Sarawak this time as in 2008 when only Kota Kinabalu and Kuching fell to the Opposition. The Opposition won Sibu in a by-election.

Seven parliamentary seats are expected to fall to the Opposition in Sabah. This translates into 20 or 21 state seats.

In Sarawak, even without a one-to-one, the Opposition will take at least nine parliamentary seats including Mas Gading and Baram and perhaps as many as 15 to 16 seats. There are no state elections this time in Sarawak. The last was held in 2011. The BN received a real clobbering from the Opposition.

If the Opposition does well in Sarawak as expected in the parliamentary elections, they will demand new state elections

Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud, already universally reviled among Malaysians, will have to step down in disgrace and can no longer operate with impunity as Putrajaya’s Chief Proxy in Borneo, spearheading an army of other proxies, their stooges and rogue elements.