WE HAVE MONEY TO BUY OVER YOUR SUPPORTERS? : SOUR GRAPES AT HUGE SHOW OF SUPPORT FOR SHAFIE, IMMORAL UMNO RIVALS OPENLY SCORN THEIR OWN CONSTITUENTS – ‘SEMPORNA POLITICS IS ALL ABOUT …’

ON the surface, Parti Warisan Sabah has won 4-0 in Semporna in the wild, wild east coast of Sabah.

The Sabah-based Opposition party’s white flags featuring a sailing ship outnumbered Barisan Nasional’s blue flags in Semporna town on Nomination Day. The sentiment on the ground was that of ubah (change), which is Warisan’s battle cry.

Seemingly, the party led by Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal will sweep the Semporna parliamentary seat and its three state seats – Sulabayan, Senallang and Bugaya.

However, seasoned Semporna politicians warn that what you see is not what you get.

Semporna, which is a Bajau/Suluk-majority seat, is the stronghold of Shafie, a former Umno vice-president who quit the party in 2016 and formed Warisan.

In GE14, the five-term Semporna MP is facing Umno’s Datuk Ramlee Marhaban, who is Sabah’s Assis­tant Minister of Finance and Bugaya assemblyman.

The coastal town of Semporna has the feel of a southern Philippines dilapidated town. There is garbage strewn everywhere in the town, which is the gateway to the world-­famous Sipadan island.

The town is surreal. There are barefooted child beggars of Filipino origin asking for money from bikini-clad tourists, who are mostly from China and are attracted to snorkel or dive in nearby islands.

Shafie believes that Semporna voters had already made up their mind on who they want to vote.

“I don’t want to go beyond that. I am not saying that it will be four zero for Warisan. But I’m quite sure we have a formidable force in this election,” said the Semporna warlord.

The Bajau politician has told his party leaders and members not to be complacent.

“The big crowd doesn’t imply that the people will vote for us. We need to reach out to them – go house to house,” he said.

A 60-something Semporna politician, who has seen the political games played in his hometown since the Usno, Berjaya, PBS and Umno era, is not impressed with the sea of Warisan flags.

“That is just a wayang (show). In reality you can’t forecast that the numbers of flags will translate to votes for Warisan,” said the politician who did not want to be named.

“Umno is still strong in Semporna. And it has the means to win the four seats.”

Since the 1970s, he has seen how locals would put up party flags in their house because they knew that the following day the opposing party would pay them to bring down the flags and put up their flags.

Ramlee, the Umno politician, agreed.

“You don’t see many Barisan flags because we are playing a wait-and-see game. That is why from today until tomorrow, you will see the Warisan flags go down and Barisan flags will go up,” he said.

In terms of the billboard war, Ramlee has won – his larger-than-life photograph is plastered in almost all roundabouts in Semporna town.

Just like how the flags can go up and down depending on how persuasive a politician is, the voters of Semporna can also be persuaded to change their mind.

“Semporna politics is all about …” said the politician, as he rubbed his thumb against his index and middle fingers to indicate money.

“In GE13, I did not sleep for 48 hours before polling as I went to villages to persuade voters to vote for my party,” he said, referring to carpet bombing (a Sabah term that means voters “bombed” with money).

“We also go campaigning in the daytime in the villages on islands as the husbands are out of the house.

“Women are more honest. We will meet the housewife and we will tell them to vote for our party and give them some money to help ease their difficult life.”

Semporna is a parliament consti­tuency where almost everybody is related by blood or by marriage.

For example, in Senallang, Shafie is facing his first cousin Datuk Nasir Sakaran, the son of Tun Sakaran Dandai, the Grand Old Man of Semporna.

Sakaran’s son and Nasir’s half-brother, Datuk Razak, is contesting in Bugaya.

The Sakaran family has remained loyal to Umno.

GE14 will be kind of a referendum on which branch of the Sakaran/Shafie family – Shafie or Nasir/Razak – is the choice of the clannish voters.

There’s indication that the charismatic Shafie has an edge over the unassuming Nasir and Razak.

Since everybody knows everybody, the politics in Semporna is very personalised.

The voters remember politicians who are generous or stingy.

Shafie is known to be generous. For example, locals talk about how when a relative died in Kuala Lumpur, the former Rural and Regional Development Minister would pay for the transport of the body to Semporna and the funeral expenses.

“There are politicians in Semporna who are known to be …” said the anonymous politician, who clenched his fist to indicate that they were tight-fisted.

He wonders whether it will be payback time for politicians who own flashy cars but are stingy.

Money talks in Semporna politics – it determines the direction of the undercurrent.

– ANN