WATCH OUT Anwar, Muhyiddin heading to Sabah to stop Wilfrid & Lajim

After 55 years of bullying everyone else in the country, ruling party Umno may finally be getting its just deserts.

Although current party president Prime Minister Najib Razak might pretend he was unperturbed, he is sending his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin to Sabah, where at least two Members of Parliament have decided to stand up for their long-suffering state and fight for reform and fairness from the Opposition side of the fence.

"Of course Umno is worried. It is a very significant move and Najib will do all he can to block the Tuaran MP and the Beaufort MP from leaving BN. But let's see if money and other such carrots can succeed this time," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

Indeed, even as news broke that Deputy Prime Minister Muhyddin Yassin would be making a one-day working trip to Sabah on Saturday, the national news agency reported in a separate bulletin that a group of Kadazandusuns would be announcing on Sunday the formation of a 'new political movement'.

Citing unnamed sources, Bernama reported that the movement - to be called Sabah Reform Front -  may align itself with the Pakatan Rakyat led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim. The movement would be formally launched in Dalit, Tuaran where Anwar is also due to visit this weekend.The 64-year-old Anwar is also expected to attend another function in Beaufort.

Sabah Reform Front

Speculation is red-hot that Tuaran MP Wilfrid Bumburing is behind Sabah Reform Front and will be joined by Beaufort MP Lajim Ukin. Both men have not responded to the latest queries from the press but were busy on Monday.

Wilfrid, who is also the UPKO deputy president, quit as the BN Tuaran chief at the start of the week. He had also said he would make an "important announcement" this Sunday to reveal his next move.

"I have hereby effective today, July 23, 2012, resigned from the post as Barisan Nasional chairman for P170, Tuaran. My resignation will enable the new BN leadership of Tuaran to make preparation for the coming 13th general election," said Bumburing in his resignation letter.

Lajim too has tendered his resignation as Kerambai Kebatu Umno branch chief, saying he would not seek re-election as the Beaufort Umno division chief. The Beaufort MP took time out to meet PAS spiritual adviser and Kelantan MB Nik Aziz Nik Mat at the latter's office in Kota Bharu on Monday, sparking talk that he may join the Islamist party.

"Letter of resignation as chief branch Umno has been sent to the secretary of Umno Beaufort a few days ago. The first step is not to defend the division chief post and the second is to quit as the Umno branch chief and the third step - wait and see," Lajim was quoted as saying by news portal New Sabah Times.

Historic step that not even money may be able to stop

If it is true that the duo will helm the Sabah Reform Front, it will also mean Wilfrid will leave Upko which is a BN component party, while Lajim will be quitting Umno, which is the boss and biggest party in the BN coalition.

So far, Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman, who is also the state BN chairman, has insisted he has not received any formal communication from the two MPs. But this is not unexpected. Musa, like Muhyiddin, is bound to try his best to negotiate a deal with Wilfrid and Lajim to stop them from leaving.

The fear is high that the two men will create history of sorts for Sabah with their move. Political observers warn that the spunk displayed by the duo will inspire their colleagues and other Sabah lawmakers to dump the BN, triggering a long and much-anticipated exodus into the Pakatan side of the divide.

Malaysia is due to hold general elections soon, the latest by April 2013, and obviously a break in the Sabah BN ranks would make the outcome even more dicey for the already-embattled Najib, who had previously revealed he considered Sabah and Sarawak to be his coalition's "fixed deposits". But it looks like neither Sabah nor Sarawak relishes being regarded or thought of as Umno's poodle.

"As we have said, it is now or never. Malaysia needs to break BN's stranglehold on the country and I foresee this happening with the first step taken by Wilfrid and Lajim. Both men are taking enormous risks by doing this. But I think is very evident who the people want as their next government and if Sabah leaders care about their people, they have to be courageous and make the break," said Tian Chua.

"If it was a question of money, we would not even be at this stage. The Umno elite - Musa Aman, Taib Mahmud, Najib and Mahathir - are all fantastically rich, what money could Anwar offer Wilfrid or Lajim by comparison. But he was able to convince them they could work for a better Malaysia from the Pakatan side of the fence whereas if they stayed in BN, Sabah would only get poorer and the people would suffer more."

Misrule and corruption

The Umno-led BN has ruled Malaysia with a fist of iron since 1957. Sabah and Sarawak joined the federation of Malaya on May 16, 1963 but despite their enormous natural resources and oil wealth, the two are among the country's poorest states.

Many of the Sabah people are also disgusted at the racism and Malay supremacy policies promulgated by Umno at their expense when the majority of Sabahans are the 'original people' or natives of the land. To them, the Malays are the migrants - little different from the Chinese or Indians who arrived and settled down decades and even centuries ago.

Such racial resentment felt by Sabahans has been heightened by the arrogance of the ruling elite and also by the hardship and poverty caused by the federal government's neglect over the decades.

State leaders including current Chief Minister Musa Aman were given free rein to govern as they pleased so long as they delivered the votes to the BN at general elections. This spawned massive corruption in the state government and it is evident that leaders from the federal government too enjoyed a slice of the illicit gains.

Another sore point with Sabahans is the so-called Project M, a citizenship-in-exchange-for-votes scam that former premier Mahathir Mohamad has been accused of initiating in the 80s to shore up Umno's power in the state. The granting of hundreds of thousands of Mykad - citizenship or permanent residency papers - to impoverished illegal migrant workers has created great social turmoil including widespread crime that the state government is still unable to resolve to this day. 

Malaysia Chronicle