Written by Wong Choon Mei, PoliticsNow Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - The longer Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim dawdles on a major corruption crisis engulfing the East Malaysian state of Sabah, the worse will be the backlash on his federal government, especially on his already fizzling grip on the prime minister's post.
"It's Anwar's inability or that's the perception of the public that he is not able to act decisively and with a clean hand on the bribery scandal involving chief minister Hajiji Noor and several other Sabah assemblymen that will give his allies room for more grouses and his rivals more ammunition against his leadership," a pundit told PoliticsNow Malaysia.
"At the end of the day, the other parties have to think about their own support bases and right now, who wants to align with Hajiji or GRS? Don't forget the Sabah state election is just around the corner and this is not the time to play drama queen politics. Sabahans are going to decide and their anger will be thundering," the pundit added.
MORE 'SANDIWARA' WILL ONLY TRIGGER INTERNAL EXPLOSION
Already, the Sabah chapter of the DAP - the lynchpin party in Anwar's Pakatan Harapan coalition that also includes his own PKR party, Amanah and Upko - has received permission from its Kuala Lumpur headquarters to review whether or not to stay aligned to GRS, the coalition of eight parties led by Hajiji that currently rules Sabah. While not a part of GRS, Sabah DAP backs Hajiji and two of its assemblymen hold posts in the state Cabinet, namely Phoong Jin Zie the Luyang rep and Tan Lee Fatt, the Likas rep.
All eyes are now Sabah DAP's decision - whether it'll be seen as going through the motions to help keep Hajiji and itself in the clear or if it really dares to cross Anwar by calling for Hajiji's resignation remains to be seen.
Nonetheless, its stance is still less complex than that of Jeffrey Kitingan, the president of the Star party, which is one of the eight GRS components. While outwardly professing support for Hajiji and lambasting Sabah Umno, the opposition party accused of masterminding the video scandal, Jeffrey has been busy on the campaign trail calling on Sabahans to reject 'peninsula-based' parties.
This would include not only Sabah Umno but also Anwar's own PKR, Sabah DAP, Pas as well as Hajiji's Gagasan, where the majority of its 26 assemblymen were originally from Bersatu, the Malay-centric West Malaysian party led by former premier Muhyiddin Yassin. While party members are in reality all locals, that they had chosen to be in peninsula-based parties is seen as a stigma of disloyalty to Sabah since the most crucial decisions are ultimately decided by the headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
"That's Jeffrey for you. He should be less hypocritical and get on with it. Who doesn't know he wants to be chief minister if Hajiji is forced to step down so as to damage control for GRS," said the pundit. "
"I am sure all the components prefer Hajiji to step aside but if he refuses to do so voluntarily and Anwar keeps backing him, sooner or later there will be an internal explosion," the pundit opined.
UMNO'S REAL MOTIVES
He was referring to an explosive scandal where incriminating video tapes allegedly showed Hajiji and a group of his assemblymen discussing the distribution of bribes allegedly in connection with the state government's awarding of mining licenses to a businessman. Hajiji has denied corruption, insisting the expose was fabricated by foes out to topple him - while some of the assemblymen blamed the use of deep fakes and AI to tarnish them ahead of the state polls which must be held by the end of next year.
So far, Anwar's PKR and Upko, which is a Sabah-based party, have been silent on the Hajiji issue - choosing to fire salvos at Jeffrey instead for driving a wedge in the minds of Sabahans: “To label peninsula-based parties as colonisers and its leaders as traitors is too much, and sounds provocative,” Sazalye Donol, secretary of Sabah PKR, had said.
Exacerbating matters is the lukewarm, slow and rather contradictory response of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission despite attempts by the whistleblower businessman to get an investigation going.
"Like it or not, the MACC is seen as Anwar's political weapon to destroy or rejuvenate political foes or allies as he wishes and who is to blame for this cynical response from the people but Anwar himself, let's be honest. So let's hope Sabah DAP will decide wisely and not put up a show just because its KL headquarters wants to support Anwar. Otherwise, Sabah DAP will lose even more seats because 'Sabah for Sabahans' and 'Sabah First' sentiment is very strong now ," said the pundit.
"To have the thinking that Sabahans are behind times or don't read the news is too ridiculous. To rely on the professor kangkungs (or propagandists) to help Hajiji recover his political balance is not only outdated but dishonest politics. And to believe that Sabah Umno is too weak it will fall trying to dislodge Hajiji is very naive. Who knows what are Umno's real motives," warned the pundit.
STOP THE CRAZY DRAMAS - TIMES HAVE CHANGED
Indeed, the West Malaysia-based Umno had controlled the federal government from 1957 to 2018, when it was finally toppled by a Mahathir Mohamad-led Pakatan Harapan coalition. So strong was Umno's hegemony, it ruled Sabah through its state chapter and even calling the state its 'fixed deposit'.
Its political fortunes back on the uptrend now, Umno is expected to challenge Anwar for the prime minister's post when national elections are finally called - the latest of which must be by 2027. Umno president Zahid Hamidi is seen trying to rejuvenate the Sabah chapter in a bid to bring back the 'glory days', recreating its past aura of invincibility so as to draw Malays back to its fold especially in the peninsula where the fight to unseat Anwar and triumph over other Malay-centric parties will be determined.
Yet in the cross-fire of politicking, both fair and foul, it would be foolish for Anwar and the DAP to believe they could manipulate the thinking and emotions of voters or to pull wool over their eyes as Umno had done for 60 years.
"Those days are over, you cannot rely on old templates. There has been education, there has been the Internet and there have been mindset changes. The support bases held by Anwar and Pakatan are also vastly different to Umno's," said the pundit.
"So whether in West or East Malaysia, at the end of the day, the real consideration should be - was there a crime committed against the people? Was there criminal breach of trust? And not pulling more stunts to keep the political upper hand. A coverup will invite even worse backlash for Anwar, DAP and the other parties within GRS," the pundit warned.
Written by Wong Choon Mei, PoliticsNow Malaysia
https://politicsnowmy.blogspot.com
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