Borneo politics moves another notch forward

Most of the media missed the significance of Jeffrey Kitingan’s press conference last Friday.

ANALYSIS

Jeffrey Kitingan, true to form, inched his politics forward yet another notch last Friday in Kota Kinabalu. However, the media was too upset to notice anything significant since he didn’t announce, as they expected, the formation of a brand new political vehicle that would do battle with both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat.

The rumours had been floating around, even from before Jeffrey quit PKR early this year, that he would head his own party and soon. This would be the only news from Jeffrey that would interest the media. The rest of Jeffrey they can’t fathom and prefer not to bother with.

One newsman, probably echoing the thoughts of his colleagues, said Jeffrey had “not taken the bull by the horns but indulged in even more political bull than usual”. This was one too many vague generalisations even from Jeffrey, they bawled in unison. They had expected a little more meat this time and went away sorely disappointed.

Another newsman, the doyen of local reporters, literally demanded that the Friday gathering begin rather than end with the press conference. The organisers gave in and the newsmen left in a huff after the press conference and skipped the speeches and high tea that followed. (It was the first anniversary of Jeffrey’s United Borneo Front, UBF.)

Many newsmen even swore they would not turn up again if Jeffrey had the temerity to call for another press conference to announce yet another “important political direction”. According to them, Jeffrey has made too many announcements of important political directions that turned out to be anti climactic.

The truth is somewhere between the two extremes.

Jeffery has always been consistent in his politics even as he went through as many parties as he could between 1994 and early this year, beginning with Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) and ending with PKR. The emphasis has always been on the struggle for the rights of Sabah and Sarawak under the 1963 Malaysia Agreement.

Rivaling BN and Pakatan

Once he realised that a particular political vehicle had no intention or was incapable of embracing the agenda, he lost little time in quitting, letting his numerous followers to decide whether to follow him or part company. His exit from any party was sometimes not easy, especially if preceded by a challenge by him, egged on by his supporters, for the number one post or resulting in a permanent state of crisis until he left.

Jeffrey has been labelled King of the Frogs for this tendency not to remain for long with any party. He doesn’t reject the crown, but has always pointed out that he’s “a good frog”, whatever that means.

He has also lived up to the blood-is-thicker-than-water perception, as underlined last Friday, when he indicated that he would not head a political party as long as his brother, Joseph Pairin Kitingan, remained PBS chief. Even the proposed Parti Cinta Sabah, linked to him since early last year, does not have his name in the line-up.

If the media have lost sight of the significance of Friday’s press conference, it’s because they have allowed wishful thinking on Jeffrey to cloud their judgment.

Last Friday was important because it confirmed that the Borneo Alliance would emerge as a rival to both BN and Pakatan. However, don’t expect the alliance to be registered anytime soon as “Borneo” is a taboo word with the Registrar of Societies.

The Borneo Alliance would be the third force in the Malaysian Parliament, neither for nor against its two rivals but willing and ready to assist one of them to form the Federal Government. For East Malaysians, there’s not much of a choice between BN and Pakatan. It therefore stands to reason that they need to look elsewhere after half a century of Malaysia.

Charity begins at home

The prognosis is bright, according to Jeffrey, who was quick to answer a call from FMT as he made his way home on Friday to his ancestral village in the high country in Tambunan. Setting up a new political party is the least of Jeffrey’s concerns since he is spoilt for choice when it comes to the number of parties under which he can be a candidate in the next general election. His concern is more on the change and reform agenda a la Borneo.

The Borneo Alliance, to carry forward UBF’s Borneo Agenda, is next set to rope in all the Sarawak outfits that are part of BN, followed by a re-branded Sarawak National Party (Snap). It would be interesting to watch whether or how many Sarawak BN parties would subscribe to the Borneo Alliance. The Sarawak Reform Party (Star) is already a member.

The idea in Sarawak is apparently to ensure that Peninsular Malaysia-based political parties continue to be kept out. Even so, the Borneo Alliance would accept fully autonomous local chapters of peninsula-based parties.

In Sabah, the Borneo Alliance has pledged to make peninsular-based parties in the state irrelevant. As in Sarawak, it would accept fully autonomous local chapters of the peninsular-based parties.

Sabah Umno, in particular, has long wanted to be separate from the mother party in Kuala Lumpur. The main reason is that the demographics in the state are different and so is its history and politics. Unlike in Peninsular Malaysia, jealousy of the Chinese in business is not an obsession of the Sabah Natives. Also, Sabah Umno has members of all races and religious persuasions, underlining that there are no unifying factors at work.

At present, the Borneo Alliance in Sabah consists of two parties—the Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) and the soon-to-be-revived United Sabah National Organisation (Usno), which was deregistered after Umno entered the state. Usno has substantial support among the Suluk and Bajau, the two largest Muslim communities in Sabah.

If DAP and PKR in Sabah do not become fully autonomous and sign up with the Borneo Alliance, the next general election will see a three-way fight in the state.

If nothing else, the Borneo Alliance will eventually force all Peninsular Malaysia-based parties operating in Sabah and Sarawak to go local and ensure that the mother parties stay out of the politics of the two states.