Sabah opposition 'big boys' frustrate minnows seeking pact

Gabungan Sabah – a coalition of Sabah-based opposition parties – have been struggling in their attempts to forge an electoral pact with Pakatan Harapan and Parti Warisan Sabah ahead of the general election.

Sabah’s opposition is the most fragmented of all states in Malaysia, with five opposition parties and four independents presently holding seats in the 60-seat Sabah legislative assembly.

Gabungan Sabah’s desire to form a united front against BN has been fuelled by the ruling coalition’s wavering support.

BN won all but one seat in 2008. However, the coalition won just 48 in 2013, as the vote share dropped to just 55 percent.

Historically, Sabah BN has proven that they are not unassailable, but Gabungan Sabah leaders believe that there is no chance at dethroning BN unless the opposition is united.

Gabungan Sabah – comprising State Reform Party (Star), Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah (PHRS), Parti Perpaduan Rakyat Sabah (PPRS) and Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) – presently have only two legislators in the state assembly and thus does not have much bargaining power.

Sapp president Yong Teck Lee told Malaysiakini that Gabungan Sabah leaders have been in touch with Warisan, but talks have been hampered by the latter’s posturing as the “big boy” of the state’s opposition.

“Warisan, especially, has been making brave statements about their strengths. They are overconfident. They have not faced the might of BN.

"All the leaders in Warisan came from DAP, PKR and Umno. None of their leaders have contested against Umno before,” said Yong, a former Sabah chief minister.

Sapp withdrew from BN in 2008. Without a pact in the 2013 general election, Sapp’s candidates were decimated. Yong himself won just 9.7 percent of the vote in Likas - a constituency which he represented from 1985 until 2002.

Warisan ‘a bit arrogant’

Star president Jeffrey Kitingan (photo) said Warisan leaders do not see their Gabungan Sabah counterparts as equals during previous encounters.

"We are okay with Harapan, we talk to each other. Warisan seems to have a little bit of hidung tinggi (arrogance). They don't really talk to us,” he said.

Gabungan Sabah has written to Warisan but informal feedback appears to suggest that Warisan was inclined to go to the polls alone.

"So now we can't be forcing ourselves to talk to them anymore. We have made our overtures. It is up to them to respond," said Kitingan, who won a very close four-way contest for the Bingkor seat in 2013.

When contacted, several Warisan leaders were unwilling to discuss the status of talks with Gabungan Sabah leaders or respond to Yong and Kitingan’s claims.

"Never mind their opinion, what matters is we work, work and work," Warisan vice-president Darell Leiking (photo) told Malaysiakini.

Despite what appeared to be the cold shoulder from Warisan, Yong said it is easier to forge ties with Warisan leaders because they are mostly familiar faces and appear better organised.

“With Harapan, it’s confusing. We don’t know who we should talk to at times.

“We get the feeling that local Harapan leaders in Sabah are in no position to make decisions on behalf of Harapan," he said.

Revolutionary changes

Both Yong and Kitingan believe that regardless of the stumbling blocks, Gabungan Sabah must continue to pursue a pact or the opposition will face mutually assured destruction.

Yong said Gabungan Sabah was willing to “let go” of some constituencies to Harapan and Warisan if a pact was forged but their coalition already have a contingency plan to field candidates for most seats if negotiations fail.

Kitingan, on the other hand, said Gabungan Sabah’s trump card was its local-centric policies that Sabahans actually want.

"We are proposing many revolutionary changes. It's not just about wanting to take over the government but to make real policy changes.

“Harapan and Warisan are now talking about things which we have raised all this while,” he said.

Adding to the difficulty in realising a united opposition bloc in Sabah was the creation of 13 new state constituencies, up from 60 currently.

Sources indicated that Warisan has been extending overtures to Harapan, while the latter was still in the midst of seat allocation talks among themselves.- Mkini