IN JEST, SABAH 13TH PREDICTION

By : EDWARD EWOL MUJIE

SABAH had experienced a roller coaster political ride since the beginning of Malaysia and had seen tremendous falls over the years called the 13th incidences, viz: 1976 (13) The fall of USNO; 1985 (13) The fall of Berjaya; 1994 (13) The fall of PBS 2013 (13); The 13th General Election – Double Jeopardy.

Former Prime Minister (PM) Tun Abdullah Badawi’s favorite number is 13 and even his car number is 13. Badawi became the best performing PM in 2004 and the worst performing PM in 2008 when he lost 5 states (Kedah, Pinang, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan) and Barisan National’s (BN) two-third majority in parliament.

And BN has to wrestle Perak from Pakatan Rakyat (PR). Many heavy weights in BN such as Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan), M. Kayveas (PPP), Samy Vellu (MIC), and Sharizat (UMNO) lost and became victims.

The Ramalan RAHMAN – I met Tunku Abdul Rahman in 1987 after “Ops Lalang”. He told me that the first letter in the names of the Prime Ministers of Malaysia will take on the letter of RAHMAN.

Tun Mahathir was the PM at that time. He said that it was true up to Mahathir and he did not know who A & N were because he would not live long enough for that. And he said I would live long enough to witness his prediction that is now fulfilled.

We are already almost at the end of 2012 and PM Najib has successfully kept everyone guessing on the date of the 13th General Election. Within BN there were so many indications for more than a year now. As we are nearing the end of 2012, it looks very likely that the 13th General Election will be in 2013.

Sabah has been a problematic state since the formation of Malaysia at the time of Tun Mustafa and Donald Stephen until now. The Project IC has created the “New Bumiputra Malays” that has voting rights.

The 'Malays' of Malaysia are today divided into 6 categories – UMNO Malays, PAS Malays, PKR Malays, Sabah Malays, Sarawak Malays, and 'New Bumiputra' Malays whilst there was only one cohesive group of Malays during independence. With the broken up 'Malays', BN UMNO has a smaller number in the 86 BN MPs from Malaya after the 2008 12th General Election.

In fact Sabah (24) and Sarawak (30) or 54 MPs or 38.5 per cent of the 140 BN MPs deserved to have 10-11 of the 27 full Federal Ministers. Why is this unfairness that Sabah has 3 and Sarawak has 2 Federal Minister?

Why has BN been very unfair by reappointing losers like Sharizat and Kho Tsu Koon as Federal Ministers when there are so many eligible and deserving MPs from Sabah and Sarawak who have won in the 2008 General Election?

Although the East Malaysian MPs might have not expressed their heavy hearted objections at that time, the people of Sabah and Sarawak would have felt short changed or sidelined by the leaders in the national capital.

UMNO Secretary General Tengku Adnan Mansor is right when he said that BN UMNO’s biggest problem in the coming election is the perception it is a corrupt party. Malaysia has now the worst ranking in the past 17 years of Transparency International – Corrupt Perception Index (TI-CPI) from No. 23 in 1995 to No. 60 now with a score of 4.3 for TI-CPI 2011.

Sarawak is now experiencing a big headache with the Radio Free Sarawak (RFS) that has successfully penetrated the deep interiors of rural Sarawak since November 2010. The opposition had for a long time difficulty in accessing the rugged terrain without the proper and expensive network of transportation.

Today, the rural natives (Ibans, Bidayuhs, Orang Ulus, Penans, Melanaus, Malays, etc) that make up more than 50 per cent of the voting population are listening to the RFS every day at 6pm prime time.

There is nothing the Sarawak or Federal Government could do to censor it. RFS will have a very deep penetrating effect on the rural Sarawak voting population. It will be more so now that Chief Minister Taib had announced that he would step down in 2013, two years after the 2011 Sarawak State Election.

The major towns of Sarawak are already dominated by the opposition in the last 2011 State Election. It looks quite likely that the opposition would also dominate the major towns in Sarawak in the 13th General Election. Now with the delay in the announcement of the 13th General Election by PM Najib, more and more rural folks will be inclined to listen, feel and move to the opposition.

They are really feeling the impact of poverty, NCR land grabbing, relocation of ancestral land caused by dam construction without proper compensation, etc. The two times RM500 BR1M will not solve their problem now that they have no where to live and cultivate as their ancestral domain has been forcibly taken away from them.

The political tsunami has taken on Malaya in the 2008 General Election. What will happen in Sabah and Sarawak this time around in the 13th General Election of 2013? Will this be 'Double Jeopardy'?