Has the crisis in Sepanggar really been averted?

GE14 | While many in BN had probably been very much relieved following incumbent Sepanggar lawmaker Jumat Idris' announcement that he is still with BN, it is still too early to tell whether the crisis has truly been averted. 

A programme held at Jumat's house last night saw over a thousand of his supporters in attendance.

Jumat appeared overwhelmed by the support, as he admitted that he did not expect anyone to come as he no longer held any positions.

But love and support for Jumat were still very much evident.

"Kami sayang pada kau, Datuk!" (We love you, Datuk!), shouted one supporter. "Tatap sokong!" (We still support you!), shouted another.

Some had speculated that he would be jumping to Parti Warisan Sabah following BN's decision not to allow him to defend the parliamentary seat of Sepanggar.

Earlier this month, seven Sepanggar Umno division committee members and over a hundred of the division's ordinary members joined Warisan.

While Jumat, in the end, stressed that he was still with BN, a supporter present last night said had Jumat announced otherwise – that he would be abandoning BN – all of his supporters would have followed suit.

"Without his blessings, it's not certain if BN can win here," a Wanita Umno member from the Sepanggar division who declined to be named told Malaysiakini.

Many of his supporters pointed to his diligence in solving the people's woes, which had made him truly loved by his constituents.

Some even admitted that they choked up with tears as they listened to Jumat speaking last night.

Edong Jumaani, 64, is one of them.

"My tears nearly fell as he spoke. I'm sad how he was dropped for no apparent reason.

"Look how many people turned up tonight. Even though he no longer has any positions, the people love him. It's not easy to gather as many people like this."

Jumat may have decided to stick to BN, but as caretaker minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan (photo) – who was BN's choice to replace Jumat – made a surprise visit at the programme last night, he in his second speech could not help but to share with those present how he knows all about the problems faced by the people in Sepanggar.

"I have knocked on the doors of 3,800 houses of the Bajau, Kadazan, Bruneian, Bugis, Suluk people.

"Thankfully my ears did not become hard listening to the various problems or else they would have fallen off," he said.

Amidst shouts of "Hidup Datuk!" Jumat (photo) tried to placate his supporters by joking that they previously had a "short" MP and will now have a "tall and handsome" representative.

"I believe in Rahman's wisdom, the problems here can be solved one by one, the problems can't be resolved immediately.

"Even I took four years and 10 months and there are still unresolved problems.

"Given the chance, I think Rahman can deliver. Give him your trust," Jumat had told his supporters.

Protest against Rahman Dahlan

Several quarters had protested against Rahman being chosen to contest in Sepanggar as he was "new to the area" and that while he may be known nationally, he was not known personally by the people in the constituency.

While the applause for Rahman last night was not as strong as the one given to Jumat, the fact that many had stayed to wait for Rahman until 11 at night showed that they still wanted to listen to what Rahman had to say.

Rahman made sure to take the opportunity to insist that he was not new to Sepanggar.

"I've lived in Sepanggar for 15 years, my house is at Kingfisher Sulaman, in the Karambunai state constituency under the Sepanggar parliamentary constituency."

Not to be outshined in terms of providing assistance and being in the know about the problems faced by people in the area, Rahman said he had, in the past, approved allocations for Sepanggar.

"Even before I became the candidate, I approved more than RM1 billion of the Economic Planning Unit's (EPU) allocation for Sepanggar to tackle the traffic problems, in particular."

At the end of his speech, Rahman promised Sepanggar voters how he would ensure that the government would "work for them" should he win in the upcoming election.

Some of those Malaysiakini spoke to last night said they will continue to support BN as Jumat himself had affirmed his support for the coalition.

"No, he would have still supported (the BN candidate)," stressed Khairul Azuan (photo), 27, when asked what would have occurred should Jumat decided to abandon BN.

Meanwhile, Jumat's nephew Mohd Shahril Sahar said while his family members might not have problems with BN's decision not to field him, the same cannot be said for everyone.

"There's a possibility that his (Jumat's) really loyal supporters might not support Rahman.

"For myself, I would just support Rahman because what's important is that we ensure that BN wins," said the 28-year-old.

While Edong (photo below) said that he, too, was still in support of BN, he pointed out how others would have jumped ship if they were in Jumat's situation.

"Others would have jumped ship if they were suspended from the party, but he didn't.

"Day and night there would always be people at his house, he would even cater to those who come in the middle of the night to his house."

Jumat was suspended from Umno for three years in 2015 after he criticised caretaker Sabah chief minister Musa Aman in a Facebook post.

Since then, he was also critical of several issues, including the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST).

Caretaker minister Salleh Said Keruak last night said he had told caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak to reinstate Jumat's party membership.

Salleh said Najib had agreed that Jumat should be reinstated, adding that he was holding on to Najib's SMS on the matter as proof to ensure that Jumat will continue to play a role in Umno.

Many disappointed

Many, said an Umno division member who declined to be named, had indeed been disappointed when Jumat was not chosen to defend his seat.

"But the prime minister has urged us to close rank and the candidate has been named.

"With the announcement, problems have been resolved, Jumat's taking his supporters to cooperate and getting them to give their support," she said.

The onus is now on Rahman to ensure that Jumat accompanied him on his campaign trail, said Sepanggar Umno Youth division chief Ramlan Awal.

"I think Jumat (photo) will be going to the ground with Rahman particularly to focus in Bukit area," he said.

The woman chipped in, saying that this was necessary as Rahman was not known in the area.

But would the 10 days left for campaigning be enough?

Both of them expressed confidence that this can indeed be done especially if the machinery consisted of both Rahman and Jumat himself.

While Jumat has yet to go down to the ground to campaign for Rahman, one of Jumat's aides confirmed with Malaysiakini that Jumat, indeed, will be lending his support to Rahman.

"It's just that we have yet to finalise his schedule," said the aide.

As such, whether or not Rahman can win the seat remains to be seen. In the coming election, Rahman will be squaring off against Warisan Youth chief Mohd Azis Jamman and two others.

But like what Jumat had told reporters last night, BN would still retain the seat "if there are no suspicions and accusations of sabotage or claims that he is only pretending".

"But if I hear even a little bit of these things and my ears turn red, I think we would burn," he said, to nervous laughter from media personnel present.

Jumat won the seat in the 2013 general election with a 9,442 vote-majority, defeating DAP's Jeffrey Kumin and two others.

The Sepanggar seat is a Muslim-majority seat, with over 60,000 voters consisting of 51 percent Muslim bumiputera, 26 percent Chinese and 21 percent non-Muslim bumiputera. - Mkini