Hajiji must rein Kitingan in to preserve ties with Putrajaya

 There is nothing wrong with the ‘Sabah for Sabahans’ sentiment, provided it is exercised within the bounds of the Federal Constitution.

Ibrahim M Ahmad

Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor must rein in his deputy, Jeffrey Kitingan, to avoid ruining their coalition’s delicately balanced relationship with Putrajaya ahead of the state’s upcoming polls.

On Monday, Kitingan, the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) deputy president, issued a stunning rebuke of Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, effectively telling him not to question the aspirations of the Sabah people.

Perhaps, he should have chosen his words more carefully, but Zahid was only seeking to quieten down those playing up the “Sabah for Sabahans” sentiment purely to prevent national parties from vying for seats in the state assembly.

Tensions in Kota Kinabalu have heightened since Friday after Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan announced an alliance to face the Sabah election.

GRS leaders appear to have been caught off guard.

The coalition has openly courted an alliance with PH recently but has been at loggerheads with BN following a fallout two years ago after Sabah BN chief Bung Moktar Radin attempted to unseat the state government.

Likely fearing his coalition had lost out, Hajiji announced that GRS was prepared to fly solo at the polls.

That fear, however, appears to have been premature with PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim saying at a press conference in Tawau on Sunday that he was keen for GRS to be part of the alliance as well.

Indeed a GRS-BN-PH alliance would make good sense as it would replicate the good working relationship already present at federal level.

It would no doubt prove formidable at the state election, except for one sticky point — the presence of Bung, and those aligned to him, in the equation.

That being the case, the timing of Kitingan’s statement, his tone, and his unfortunate attack on Zahid were ill-advised.

Some of the statements he made were also concerning.

The Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) president appears to have gone so far as to claim that the political will of Sabahans extends to charting an “entirely new course” outside of the Federation of Malaysia.

He also suggested that this was imminent, depending on “how Sabah is treated in the days to come”.

Is Kitingan suggesting that Sabah is on the brink of self-determination and is looking to break away from Malaysia? That is simply going way too far.

There is nothing wrong with the “Sabah for Sabahans” sentiment, provided it is exercised within the bounds of the Federal Constitution, something Hajiji has been keen to observe over the last two-and-a-half years.

That means legitimately seeking greater autonomy in terms of the governance of the state, a measure of economic independence, and its rightful entitlements under the Malaysia Agreement 1963, but always mindful of its place and role within the federation.

In any case, as the leader of a party with only six assemblymen in the 79-seat Sabah state assembly, can Kitingan claim to represent the will of all Sabahans? Surely not.

Kitingan’s past skirmishes with Anwar are well documented.

He would do well to align his views with Hajiji’s so not to be GRS’s “Bung” and impede an alliance with PH-BN. - FMT

Ibrahim M Ahmad is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.