Will Musa bar Anwar from Sabah?

Malaysia’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, whose daughter Nurul Izzah was deemed a “security threat” and barred from entering Sabah last week will himself test the waters when he arrives in Kota Kinabalu tomorrow.

He is expected to attend, as chief guest, a thanksgiving party by PKR members here.The party is being hosted by the PKR’s sole Sabah parliamentarian Darell Leiking.

Anwar, who is PKR de facto leader, is also scheduled to hold closed-door meetings with Pakatan Rakyat as well as Sabah PKR leaders. The meeting will include Pakatan’s 12 freshly-elected state and three parliamentary representatives.

For the first time in Sabah, PKR managed to secure one parliament and seven state seats. Its coalition partner, DAP, doubled its parliamentary seats to two and state seats to four in May 5 general elections.

Anwar, is among several names who are reportedly barred from entering Sabah.

During the height of the controversial decision by Chief Minister Musa Aman, DAP had claimed that Anwar and other leaders – DAP national advisor Lim Kit Siang, Bersih co-chairman S Ambiga and PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli – were also on the ban list.

But Sabah state secretary Sukarti Wakiman later clarified that there was no unilateral ban on Nurul Izzah’s entry into Sabah and “no permanent ban on any other opposition leaders coming into Sabah as long as they do not pose a security threat.”

Under various constitutional guarantees, Sabah, just like Sarawak, has unfettered jurisdiction over its immigration matters including the power to bar anybody from entering the state.

Years back, a High Court in Kota Kinabalu, in an immigration case involving a top lawyer, ruled that Sabah Immigration Director, though under a Federal agency is constitutionally under the “State Authority” that is the Chief Minister.

In Nurul’s case, most observers had opined that the order to bar her from joining a state-level celebration of Tadau Kaamatan or Harvest Festival on May 30 and 31, was to avoid untoward incidence at the Hongkod Koisaan, the compound of the celebration.

It was said that local PKR, DAP and PAS members would have accompanied Nurul and Leiking to the celebration in dark t-shirts as a sign of protest of what PR leaders termed as frauds committed during the general election.

So far, there is no sign that Anwar, who had visited Sabah at least eight times last year, and a few times this year, would be barred from entering the state.

While it is not established, it is believed that members of Pakatan’s component parties would try to stage a peaceful silent protest during Anwar’s visit here this weekend.

But PKR Kadamaian assemblyman, Jeremy Uku Malajad, when contacted, said he was not aware of any such protest.