Historic Sandakan polls quashes myth of 'Bossku' invincibility

MP SPEAKS | The historic Sandakan by-election result has pulverised two myths in Malaysian politics – that the Pakatan Harapan/Warisan governments in Putrajaya and Sabah are only one-term governments and the invincibility of the shameless “Malu Apa Bossku” campaign which aims to give a new lease of life to former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

At a news conference in Sandakan two days before polling on May 11, I outlined three possible scenarios in the Sandakan by-election:

First scenario – PBS victory because of the Umno-PAS tie-up and campaign. Umno claimed to have 9,700 members in Sandakan, and if Umno successfully mobilised its 9,700 members to vote, with the promised 150 percent Umno support by former Umno bigwig Abdul Rahman Dahlan, together with the final appearance of Najib in Sandakan in his shameless new “Malu Apa” campaign, and the votes amassed by the grand opposition coalition in Sabah, victory for the PBS candidate was on the cards.

Second scenario – DAP candidate Vivian Wong wins the Sandakan by-election with a majority of a few thousand votes, confirming the support of the Sandakan voters for the DAP, Harapan and the Warisan-led Sabah state government.

With the low voter turn-out rate on polling day, Harapan/Warisan leaders thought that the best the DAP candidate could achieve in the Sandakan by-election was a small victory with a majority of some two thousand votes.

But it was the third scenario that eventuated despite the shameless “Malu Apa Bossku” campaign of Najib in Sandakan on Friday evening and Saturday morning and the “150 percent Umno support”.

Wong (below) created a political miracle despite the low political turnout of 54.4 percent of the voters compared to 71 percent of the electorate in the 14th general election, winning 74.18 percent of the total votes as compared to 67.97 percent in the 14th general election.

She joined a score of parliamentary constituencies where over 95 percent of the Chinese voters and the majority of the bumiputera voters in the voter turnout voted for her.

The Sandakan by-election was a rare achievement, which is a ringing endorsement not only for DAP, Harapan and the Warisan-led Sabah state government, but a great boost and support for the start of the second year in the agenda for change for a New Malaysia, New Sabah and New Sandakan.

The future can only be better and brighter, as Harapan and Warisan forge ahead to keep faith with the people of Sandakan, Sabah and Malaysia to build a New Sandakan, a New Sabah and a New Malaysia.

The analysis of the Sandakan by-election on the Finance Twitter website, titled “Najib ‘Bossku’ turns ‘Cuckoo’ – Sabah Borneo Rejects Extremism and Racism, Becomes PH Fixed Deposit” describes the situation very aptly.

Former premier Najib Abdul Razak and Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin in Sandakan on May 11, 2019. 

On behalf all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, the voters of Sandakan have replied to Najib’s shameless “Malu Apa Bossku” campaign with a loud and unmistakable rejoinder: “Banyak Banyak Malu!”

Is this the reason why Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor dare not sue businessman Deepak Jaikishan or Al Jazeera for the recent Al Jazeera interview “Power and Corruption”, which as good as accused both of corruption, with Deepak openly accusing Rosmah of purchasing diamonds as a way to “siphon” money, that Rosmah behaved akin to the “de facto prime minister” when the BN was in power, that Rosmah received jewellery, money, properties and cars in return for lucrative government contracts, and that she counterchecked on her husband “so that she knew exactly how many contracts were awarded that week” and “she wanted a stake of every single contract”?

This was one of the three issues which I had asked Najib to answer in his shameless “Malu Apa Bossku” visit to Sandakan, but he failed to do so. The other two issues were:

• His response to the 509 first anniversary speech by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who said it was “strange” that Najib could still act innocent during the ongoing investigation of the 1MDB scandal and despite the return of some RM1.5 billion allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB by the US and Singapore authorities and the criminal and money-laundering investigations by some 10 countries; and
• The revelation by former MACC review panel member Lim Chee Wee that Najib was not investigated for corruption when he was prime minister because he had sacked Abdul Gani Patail as attorney-general, replacing Gani with Mohamad Apandi Ali, whose single agenda as AG was to protect Najib from any corruption investigation.

Najib – let’s have the answers.

Najib disputed that he suffered a knockout blow in the Sandakan by-election. What a pity, the former prime minister is now so dazed that he does not know what is a knock-out blow.

He thinks that the “Malu Apa Bossku” campaign is made of gold and diamonds when it is a mere house of cards.

Let Najib continue with his “Malu Apa Bossku” sojourn until he ends up in Sungai Buloh.

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LIM KIT SIANG is Iskandar Puteri MP. - Mkini