Shafie’s hand in KDM Malaysia?

The newly registered KadazanDusun Murut (KDM) Malaysia aims to weaken Musa Aman's strongest partner, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) and Pairin Kitingan.

COMMENT

By Selvarajah Somiah

If you ask me, the most interesting part of this coming election is the shadow-boxing within the Barisan Nasional in Sabah.

The shadow boxing by certain Umno politicians using Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), a BN component in Sabah, and the Kadazandusun Murut Association Malaysia (KDM Malaysia) may be a precursor to a battle for the ‘gaddi’ in Kuala Lumpur.

Some Umno leaders in Sabah namely Shafie Apdal is vying for the chief minister’s chair– not for today but definitely for tomorrow.

It is a bit silly to accuse Chief Minister Musa Aman for being ‘opportunistic’ about the alliance with the Gerakan party and for appointing Dr Yee Moh Chai of PBS as the new Deputy Chief Minister.

(Both LDP president VK Liew and his deputy Senator Chin Su Phin have done just that).

To set the record straight, Musa is a fair man and has always has been loyal to Umno and the BN.

Musa has stayed loyal and calm despite being accused of all sorts of things by LDP and his own Umno fellows.

Even those associated with Shafie Apdal are doing the same, hitting him under the belt.

Shafie’s hand

And now even the newly registered KDM Malaysia is trying to undermine him.

Despite the disappointment and accusation, never once has Musa lost his cool.

Of course now after the story about Liew’s shenanigans with his Rungus staff and the police report in Kota Marudu, things have cooled down.

Liew (who was once disparaging of Musa) is (now) throwing heaps of praises on Musa.

Whatever other adjective you may use of Musa he has proved (that he is) anything but ‘opportunistic’.

Given this 10-year history, why is Shafie now eyeing Musa Aman so warily?

The simple answer is that Shafie believes that Umno shall be a real contender for power come the 13th general election.

Musa, Sabah’s best CM

Shafie also believes that, in the absence of a towering figure such as Musa, the leadership of the Sabah BN may be up for grabs.

Shafie also knows that he is — Musa apart — probably the most visible face of Umno Sabah.

Shafie thinks he gives the impression that he has got (Umno president) Najib Tun Razak’s blessings to replace Musa.

I doubt this very much because Najib has openly acknowledged that Musa is doing a fantastic job in Sabah.

In the ordinary course of events Musa would probably be the clear front-runner.

He is by far the best chief minister Sabah has ever seen. He is articulate, workaholic and has propelled his state ahead of the rest when it comes to development.

He has won every electoral challenge thrown at him — Parliament polls or state assembly polls – since taking over in 2003.

KDM Malaysia, a tool to divide

Now lets look at KDM Malaysia and how Shafie’s hidden tentacles have come into play.

John Ambrose is the founder and president of KDM Malaysia and its number one purpose is to get Kadazan Dusun Murut (KDMs) to support Umno.

Its second most important intention is to break the KDMs away from (other BN coalition partner) PBS, Upko and the PBRS.

In other words it is a tool to divide the KDMs.

Everyone knows that Musa has a perfect relationship with PBS and its president Pairin Kitingan.

PBS is the second most important party in BN Sabah after Umno. So in order to weaken Musa Pairin and the PBS must be weakened.

And this can be done if a sizable number of KDMs are taken away from the PBS. Even Upko will be weaken in so doing.

RM40 million contract

After the failed Umno KDM Task Force, Shafie together with John Ambrose and one Peter Antony hatched this idea of KDM Malaysia. The objective was basically to weaken the PBS in order to weaken Musa.

Ambrose said KDM Malaysia is an NGO and it will undertake welfare programs and build houses for the KDMs poor.

But, where will KDM Malaysia get the money to build thousands of houses for the poor KDMs?

Ambrose said KDM Malaysia will get funding from the government to built houses for the poor KDMs.

Is this true? Is it true that the Ministry of Rural Development under Shafie will be the money man?

Is it true that Ambrose got a yearly RM40 million landscape project from University Malaysia Sabah to fund his KDM Malaysia?

Is it true that Najib wrote a letter to the vice-chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Dr Kamaruzaman Hj Ampon, to give the RM40 million landscaping contract to Ambrose’s company?

Upko pulling out?

A little bird tells me Upko president Bernard Dompok is very sore with the whole game play in trying to divide the KDMs further.

The little bird also told me that Bernard Dompok has met (PKR de facto leader) Anwar Ibrahim recently with a view to pullout Upko from the BN if there is no Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the issuance of blue IC’s to illegals.

The bird also told me that Pairin may step down as the PBS president and let the party decide on whether to side with Upko in the worst case scenario.

Pairin is really disappointed with “the plotters” trying to divide the KDMs further.

According to the little bird, Pairin did ask Najib about the KDM Malaysia and Najib just smiled and didn’t respond.

So, in the end, only PBS, PBRS and KDM Malaysia may represent the KDM’s in BN, it is feared.

If KDM Malaysia is not handled properly, this will put a severe dent in Musa’s acceptability, particularly in those pockets of the KDM belt where KDMs constitute a major chunk of the electorate.

Looking to 2013 is all well and good but there is the small business of winning in 2012 that looms ahead just now.

This first appeared on Selvarajah Somiah’s blogsite. He’s a geologist and freelance writer.