Umno needs Sabah, Sarawak to hold premiership

PKR-led Pakatan Rakyat is greedier than Umno, claims a Sabah opposition party leader frustrated with Umno and Pakatan 'hegemony'

KOTA KINABALU: UK-based NGO,  Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia (BoPiMaFo) believes the only reason Malaya based parties are desperate to retain Sabah and ‘invade’ Sarawak is so that they can continue to decide which Umno leader would become the Prime Minister.

Daniel Jambun, who leads BoPiMaFo, said: “Umno wanted to go to Sarawak but its dream was shattered not because of Sarawak BN parties’ refusal but because of the people.

“If Umno spreads its wings to Sarawak, it would empower Sabah and Sarawak to decide who would be Umno president and eventually Prime Minister as both combined number of delegates from East Malaysia would have been the biggest to Umno’s annual assembly.

“Obviously Malayan parties come to East Malaysian states not to lose power and control. But of course they did not tell you this was the reason.”

Jambun, who is Sabah State Reform Party (STAR) deputy chairman, has consistently said that Sabah and Sarawak are best left to local parties to represent and be part of the Federal Government, something that Malayan leaders did not like as in the various cases.

Jambun was alluding to the encroachment of Malayan based parties on both sides of the divide. The BN coalition has Umno, MCA, Gerakan and MIC in Sabah while the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition has DAP, PKR and PAS.

Sabah is administered by Umno-led BN in a coalition with local parties PBS, LDP, UPKO and PBRS. Since Umno’s entry, the state has seen a steady decline in its socio-economic status.

Anwar Ibrahim-led Pakatan has also now muscled into Sabah and is seeking to entrench itself here politically.

Both Malaya based parties, claims Jambun have little interest in ensuring the rights and dignity of Sabahans.

‘Control, exploit, hegemonise’

Throwing punches at Pakatan, Jambun described the coalition as “greedy” for wanting to contest all seats in Borneo.

“History has shown us that (the) majority of Sabahans and Sarawakians have actually refused Malaya political parties.

“They believe the leaders from both sides have always wanted to control, exploit and hegemonise Sabahans and Sarawakians. And because of their (Malayan) uncontrolled greed, they will do anything to deny the people their right and will bulldoze their way in.

“Look at Umno, which many of the now opposition PKR leaders were very much part of. Umno even changed the election boundaries to facilitate their control in Sabah.

“To be frank, wasn’t PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim at that time Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s right-hand man? Do you think he has changed?

“If  Anwar is a changed man now, why is it he is still copying Umno’s greed, even looking down, if not trying to dictate to fellow state opposition leaders?” asked Jambun.

Jambun was referring to Pakatan’s insistence on contesting in all 25 parliamentary seats in Sabah and 31 in Sarawak.

In July last year BN defectors Lajim Ukin and Wilfred Bumburing added a ‘local flavour’ to Pakatan. Lajim, a former federal level Umno deputy minister is Beaufort MP, while Bumburing is Tuaran MP and ex-deputy president of  Sabah BN partner, Upko.

Both have since set up their own political platforms and pledged allegiance to Anwar. Anwar has since assigned Lajim to secure the Muslim votes and Bumburing to look into the native KadazanDusun Murut votes.

Greedy PKR-Pakatan

This has left local opposition STAR and Sabah Progressive People Party (SAPP) in a ‘quandary’.

Jambun said: “A deeper look at things and the finger would point to the Malaya-based political parties that are truly splitting the votes in Sabah and Sarawak as they are greedy and want to wallop even the smallest number of seats in Sabah and Sarawak.

“When Malaysia Federation was formed in 1963, it was an agreement that our seats, both state and parliamentary seats in our own state should be our safeguard and that those representatives elected are to be Sabah and Sarawak’s genuine voices especially in Parliament.

“But what sort of safeguards can Sabah and Sarawak have if even our small number of seats are being taken by parties from outside East Malaysia? It is obvious that these Sabahans reps would listen to their leaders who are from peninsula. Just look at Umno reps from Sabah.

“We want to push away Umno from Sabah but why must these Malayan and their Sabahan proxies and stooges here insist we replace Umno with yet another Malayan political party?

“Are the 165 parliamentary seats (out of 222) lumped together in the whole of Malaya still not good enough for PKR and PR (Pakatan) to contest that they must contest Sabah’s mere 25 and Sarawak’s 31 parliamentary seats ?”

“Do we really want a change that is real here (Sabah)?