Now that the 60 elected assemblymen have been sworn in, the next big question here is who will be the chief opposition whip when the Sabah Legislative Assembly (DUN) begins its sitting on Monday?
After a long time, the DUN will see just over 20% of its seats occupied by the opposition – peninsular-based Pakatan Rakyat and local boy Sabah State Reform Party (STAR).
Pakatan’s PKR and DAP won 12 seats while STAR took away one from Barisan Nasional. In the 2008 general election BN only lost one seat to DAP.
As of yesterday, when the 60 took their oath before the Speaker Salleh Said Keruak, there was still no news on who it will be.
Speculations are however rife that it will be either Klias assemblyman Lajim Ukin or Tamaparuli representative Wilfred Bumburing.
Both are not actual PKR members but stood on the party ticket in the May 5 general elections.
Lajim and Bumburing have their own respective political platforms – PPPS and APS – which are awaiting registration.
Both of them quit Umno and Upko respectively last July and threw their contentious support behind PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.
The Sabah Pakatan opposition bloc is however divided over Lajim and Bumburing.
Lajim had told reporters that the opposition representatives will be meeting soon to decide on who will lead the “team” in the august house.
“The opposition block will be meeting again and we will submit a name by Monday,” he said.
When pushed further about rumours that PKR wanted him to lead, Lajim said: “Yes, they have asked me.
“If I have everyone’s vote and given the opportunity, then I will accept the responsibility.”
Lajim, who was once a Sabah deputy chief minister, said the opposition bloc would closely monitor the the government’s actions.
“We will speak for the people and point out any weaknesses,” he said.
Meanwhile Salleh when asked about the increased opposition voice in DUN said it “won’t make a difference”.
“I believe there will be a healthy debate among all members of the House and they are free to share their views as long as it is conducted professionally based on the Standing Order,” he said.
Asked about the “unprecedented” position of Opposition Leader, Salleh said it was not a procedural matter and was based on ‘conventional selection’.
“If they (opposition reps) want to do so, they are free to submit a proposal to us and action will be taken according to their terms.
“But to date, they have yet to submit anything to us,” he said. -FMT
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Sabah opposition divided on ‘chief whip’
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: Despite the political mayhem in Sabah, it is possible that Barisan Nasional (BN) will again win big in the state in the coming general election.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, BN could win all 25 parliamentary seats and all the 60 state assembly seats as well as the sole MP seat in Labuan.
ReplyDeleteBoth seats went to DAP. This time though, it is possible that DAP will lose both seats to BN.
ReplyDeleteBut DAP will disagree with me. It will insist that it can retain Kota Kinabalu and Sri Tanjung.
Its leaders will also tell you that they will win the Sandakan parliamentary seat and in a few other state constituencies where there are Chinese majorities. This should add up to about eight constituencies.
ReplyDeleteAnd that means state-based opposition Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), which is staking claims to these Chinese seats too, will be left empty-handed.
ReplyDeleteThese are the possibilities in Sabah.
And what about the Sabah chapter of the State Reform Party (STAR) that boasts 160,000 members?
ReplyDeletePolitical pundits here are claiming that STAR has a good chance of winning a few Kadazandusun seats. They are saying that it could be four MP seats and eight state seats.
But if you ask the STAR leaders, they’ll tell you that winning a simple majority of 31 (out of 60) and up to 10 MP seats is possible.
That would mean BN component parties like Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) and Upko could lose scores of their seats to STAR.
ReplyDeleteMusa may lose seat
ReplyDeleteIt is possible that the Kadazandusuns are shifting away from PBS and Upko, not so much because they love less both parties and leaders but more because they hate Umno hegemony in the state.
Another possibility is that Chief Minister Musa Aman may also lose his Sungai Sibuga state seat.
Not because of the exposure of allegedly illegal international money transactions but because some folk within Sabah Umno want to see the end to the Musa’s reign.
They want Shafie Apdal – an Umno vice-president – to assume his position.
Bearing this in mind, it is possible that Shafie may trade his current Semporna MP seat for a state constituency in the east-coast belt, thus paving the way for him to rise to the role of Sabah chief minister.
If you’re thinking that Musa cannot lose in his constituency, think again.
Remember former chief minister Harris Salleh? Well, he was trounced by a virtually unknown named Kadoh Agundong, who was a member of a fledgling three-week-old Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) in Tenom in 1985.
Meanwhile, the list of possible “Goliaths” in the coming election includes PBS president Joseph Pairin Kitingan, Upko president Bernard Dompok, SAPP president Yong Teck Lee, LDP president VK Liew and even STAR Sabah chairman, Jeffrey Kitingan.
All these heavyweights could lose to the young “Davids” in the coming national polls.
Jeffrey has chalked up many losses in recent times. He is currently working to dethrone his elder brother Pairin in Tambunan and Keningau.
Dompok himself has lost before in Penampang and Liew is facing a precarious situation in Sandakan.
Yong recently finished a poor third in the Batu Sapi by-election, well behind the relatively unknown Linda Tsen from BN-PBS. In fact, Yong did worse than PKR’s Ansari Abdullah in the Batu Sapi polls.
In 2008, the initial votes tally showed that former magistrate Shanty Chong (DAP) had won the seat. But following objections, Liew was later declared the winner under suspicious circumstances.
BN may re-field Bumburing, Lajim
ReplyDeleteChong took her case to court but, for some unknown reason, dropped it and Liew went on to be appointed as Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister.
And there’s also talk of Upko deputy president Wilfred Bumburing and Umno westcoast warlord Lajim Ukin threatening to quit their respective parties.
Talk has been going on for ages that the duo will join PKR but thus far nothing has materialised.
Suffice to note that BN chairman Najib Tun Razak and Musa would do whatever possible to prevent them from defecting not because these two are indispensable but more so out of fear that their move would trigger a mass exodus from Umno, PBS, and Upko.
Having said this, I believe there is a possibility that Bumburing and Lajim would be retained by BN as candidates, after all.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite possible for Lajim to win handsomely at least in his Klias state seat which he once held before becoming Beaufort MP.
The same possibility applies to Bumburing in Tamparuli or even in Tuaran where Ansari has contested and lost many times.
ReplyDeleteThere is also talk that some in Upko are encouraging potential leaders to come out and stand as candidates, especially in areas its BN colleague PBS is currently representing.
That explains the sudden appearances of familiar names like Osu Sukam, Ghapur Salleh, Maijol Mahap, Tan Yong Gee, Mokhtar Radin, Steven Kutai and even Dr Ibrahim Menudin of Labuan. All of them could join Lajim and Bumburing in the opposition.
ReplyDeleteBackstabbing is very much a part and parcel of Sabah politics and the 13th general election is seeing even the BN grassroots members wanting a change of their respective “Yang Berhormats”
‘Comebacks’ likely
ReplyDeleteThis being the case, it is possible that Bumburing may not want to re-contest the Tuaran MP seat, as some claim he has an understanding with his immediate predecessor Wilfred Madius Tangau.
The Tamparuli state seat is currently held by PBS’ Jahid Jahim, a Muslim representing a Christian majority area.
Meanwhile Tan, a former Labuk assemblyman, could be aiming to return to his seat which is now held by PBS vice-president Michael Asang.
ReplyDeleteLawyer Maijol could possibly be the best bet to take on PBS deputy president Maximus Ongkili in Kota Marudu.
They have duelled at least twice before for the seat and Maijol, who is now a senator, lost only by a slim margin.
None of the STAR leaders in poverty-stricken Kota Marudu seems able to take the mantle of leadership from Ongkili.
Kutai from Inanam is also its former assemblyman but has been since succeeded by PBS Johny Goh.
ReplyDeleteIn the 2008 general election, Inanam saw a huge combined opposition votes of around 7,000 while Goh, the eventual winner, only managed to get over 5,000 votes.
His rival, Daniel John Jambun of PKR, bagged more than 4,000 votes while a lesser known DAP candidate managed to get over 2,000 votes.
Had the opposition fielded one candidate then, it would have won Inanam.
Opposition is more split
ReplyDeleteThe opposition in Sabah appears even more split now than in the last election.
At least in 2008, there was no STAR as Jeffrey was still in PKR then.
That is why I said BN could win big again in Sabah. Those hoping for change are pragmatic about the possibilities.
There is still time for the opposition parties already in Sabah to hammer out their differences and consolidate their position against the entrenched BN.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a possibility that one or two of opposition parties in Sabah could be working hand-in-hand with the establishment to ensure that the Umno-led BN rules for another five years.
United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (UPKO) must always stick to its principled-oriented leadership with a focused, daring and sincere approach.
ReplyDeleteThe Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) Lahad Datu has received encouraging response from local and international investors since its inception, and total investment to date has reached a whopping RM4.5 billion.
ReplyDeleteThe positive response was chiefly due to its strategic location, the availability of raw materials, natural deep harbour and the comprehensive infrastructure within the POIC, which was established in 2005.
ReplyDeleteA total of 45 companies have invested in Phase 1 and 2 spanning 464.6 hectares and these players are involved mainly in biodiesel, palm oil refinery, logistics and warehousing, property development, manufacturing of fertilisers and its supporting services.
ReplyDelete35 are local companies with 10 of them being public listed companies and the remaining nine are foreign-owned companies from Australia, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands and Pakistan.
ReplyDeletePOIC Sabah Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Dr Pang Teck Wai told Bernama that the policy and financial support POIC Lahad Datu had received from the state and federal governments since its inception illustrated the importance of value-adding in the oil palm industry in Malaysia, where Sabah is the biggest producing state.
ReplyDeleteSecond-generation biofuel is produced from non-food feedstock such as oil palm biomass, and Sabah’s 1.4 million hectares of oil palm plantation generates up to 26 million tonnes of plantation and mill wastes that are ready raw materials for value-adding.
ReplyDeleteThe Asean Oil & Gas Expo 2012 (AGEX 2012), starting Tuesday to Nov 1, expects sale to increase to US$100 million compared with US$80 million at last year’s AGEX.
ReplyDeleteManaging director of Fireworks Event (M) Sdn Bhd, Jerel Soo, said AGEX 2012 attracted over 6,000 local and foreign visitors.
ReplyDelete