Sabah Kita joins the polls fray, splitting votes

It is likely that the general election will see four-cornered fights in almost all the seats, given the interest of several smaller parties, alongside STAR and SAPP.

KOTA KINABALU: It is getting increasingly crowded in Sabah’s political arena. The latest party to “consolidate” itself under a new chief and reiterate its stand to contest all 60 state and 25 parliamentary seats is the Sabah chapter of Parti Keadilan Insan Tanah Air (Kita).

Former assemblyman Thomas Anggan, who lost his deposit in the 2008 general election and who now heads Sabah Kita, said candidates have already been identified and the main aim is to bring down Barisan Nasional.

“We are willing to work with Pakatan Rakyat to face the might of BN but if the Anwar Ibrahim-led opposition coalition declines our offer to cooperate, Sabah Kita will go on its own for all the state and parliamentary seats in Sabah,” said Anggan.

Anggan, a police inspector before contesting in 1985 for PBS and a former political secretary, will himself be contesting in Bingkor state and Keningau parliamentary seats. Keningau is currently held by his former boss, PBS president Joseph Pairin Kitingan.

Anggan took over the leadership of Sabah Kita on Feb 1 after former federal minister Pengiran Othman Rauf tendered his resignation last month, citing health reasons.

Anggan, who was Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) assemblyman for Bingkor in 1985, called a party supreme council meeting last week and adopted a resolution that was taken by Othman last year that the party will field candidates in all the 60 state and 25 parliamentary seats in Sabah in the coming general election.

The supreme council of the party, an expansion of the Peninsula-based Kita, once headed by lawyer businessman Zaid Ibrahim, also made key appointments during its recent meeting.

Its new deputy chairmen are Sylvester Mutang Dawat and Johan Asik Shah.

Sabah Kita’s director of strategy and information chief is Abdul Rashid Kobod while Timis Sambadi is the secretary and Betty Edwin Malangkan, the women’s wing chief. The three supreme council members appointed are Jounal Bibi, Wahid Susu @ Suyoh and Saidi Jaimin.

These officials are also set to contest in the general election. Dawat is set for Tenom, Johan in Kota Belud and Abdul Rashid is going for the Semporna parliamentary and Senallang state seats.

More players advantageous to BN

With this latest announcement, Sabah Kita is now the second smallest Sabah party contesting all the seats in the state. The other is Parti Bersatu Sasa Malaysia (Bersama) or Malaysia United People’s Party.

Bersama, headed by Suhaidin Langkap, is also planing to field candidates not only in Sabah but in all the 222 parliamentary and 502 state constituencies in the country.

Anggan and Suhaidin have several things in common – both are from the interior division of Sabah, contested in the last election and both lost their deposits.

Anggan contested as an independent in Bingkor and only polled 164 votes against the winner Justin Guka of BN who garnered 4,589 votes and Jeffrey Kitingan who obtained 4,418 votes for PKR. Another independent Victor Leonardus forfeited his deposit when he only managed to get 129 votes.

Suhaidin contested for Parti Setia, which he then headed, in the state seat of Sook and lost his deposit when he only garnered 202 votes. The seat was won by BN’s Ellron Angin (5,496). The PKR candidate Paul Gitang polled 3,365 votes.

Meanwhile, Dawat had also contested the Tenom parliamentary seat in the 2008 election. He contested on Parti Bersekutu ticket and almost lost his deposit when he only got 485 votes. The seat was won by Raime Unggi of BN (9.535). The PKR candidate Adris Taripin obtained 2,652 votes while Independent Richard Joe Jimmy garnered 2,499.

With Parti Setia and Bersama announcing that they are contesting in all seats in Sabah, the one-on-one contests hoped by the opposition especially Pakatan Rakyat in the coming 13th general election is unlikely to happen.

With Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) headed by former chief minister Yong Teck Lee and the Jeffrey-led State Reform Party (STAR) having so far failed to reach any agreement on seats allocations with Pakatan Rakyat, most seats in the state will see at least four-cornered fights.

This could further split opposition votes giving the advantage to the ruling BN coalition candidates.