Allies or otherwise? It's hard to tell in Sabah

SABAH POLLS | Opposition Gabungan Rakyat Sabah campaign has been a dizzying affair so far, with allegiances hard to determine.

Take for instance Bersatu supreme council member Azmin Ali's visit to Tuaran today, stumping for Perikatan Nasional-Bersatu candidate Hajiji Mohd Noor.

Hajiji is hoping to win the Sulaman seat for the fifth time, which Azmin told supporters could launch the former into the coveted chief minister's seat.

This is the second time a key Bersatu leader after Muhyiddin Yassin publicly mooted Hajiji as a possible candidate for chief minister.

This would be considered odd since Gabungan Rakyat Sabah has hitherto yet to agree on a leader, let alone a chief minister's candidate.

Speaking to about 250 people in Sulaman, Azmin had touted Hajiji as chief minister material because the latter was a "strong and clean" candidate.

This could have easily been interpreted as a jibe at Sabah BN leader Bung Moktar Radin and Warisan vice-president Peter Anthony - both are candidates for the Sabah election with ongoing corruption trials.

It was strange that Azmin would intentionally moot Hajiji (above) as a chief minister candidate and risk the ire of Bersatu's allies when Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had reacted negatively when Muhyiddin first publicly toyed with the idea.

Equally perplexing was Azmin's visit to Tamparuli to campaign for Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) secretary-general Jahid Jahim.

PBS isn't part of Perikatan Nasional, a now formal coalition consisting of Bersatu, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).

In fact, PBS will be going against Star for six seats and BN for 12 seats.

PBS fielded 22 candidates for this election. Only four will not be facing either BN or PN candidates and Jahid was one of them.

Unlike in Sulaman, Azmin did not plug Hajiji as a chief minister candidate to the Tamparuli crowd of 150 nor address the "friendly fire" that was taking place.

Instead, like in Sulaman, Azmin spent most of his time attacking Warisan and his former party PKR.

According to Azmin, Warisan leader Mohd Shafie Apdal had "failed as a chief minister", citing how his government crumbled after two years because the majority of the state's lawmakers had left him.

"What does Shafie understand? That is why the majority of the state representatives have rejected him as the Sabah chief minister.

"He has lost the majority. Why did he lose the majority? Because he failed as a chief minister. Is that so difficult to understand?" said Azmin.

At one point, Azmin compared Shafie's performance as chief minister to that the prime minister in Covid-19 related stimulus packages.

According to Azmin, Muhyiddin made good on his promise to provide cash handouts to the needy while Shafie did not.

When contacted, Shafie's aide told Malaysiakini that this was untrue as Sabahans with an income of RM3,000 or less received an RM300 one-off handout in March and April.

Tomorrow, Azmin will be in Kota Kinabalu to campaign for Jumat Idris, the BN-Umno candidate for Darau.

Expected to be present is Sabah BN chief Bung, who is widely believed to be an aspiring chief minister candidate.

Tomorrow night will also witness the launch of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah's joint "Aku Janji" (election manifesto), which may bring some clarity as to the coalition's chief minister candidate and allegiances. - Mkini