Interesting times for Sabah with PPBM at the doorstep

The Sabah leaders who quit Umno earlier this week, leaving the party’s future there uncertain.

KOTA KINABALU: A political analyst says despite earlier statements by PPBM leaders that the party will not enter Sabah, it is inevitable in the wake of the en bloc exit of Umno leaders and elected representatives who have since declared themselves as independents.

Arnold Puyok said the Malay party had already launched its chapter in neighbouring Sarawak, and would eventually set up base in Sabah.

“Sabah is next. Sabah is no longer insulated from parochial politics.

“However, the survival of the party in Sabah would depend on its policy position and its ability to attract influential local leaders,” the Universiti Sarawak Malaysia deputy dean told FMT.

Puyok is convinced that Wednesday’s announcement by 36 Umno leaders, including four MPs and nine assemblymen, will further push Sabah Umno to extinction, 27 years after it was launched in the Borneo state.

The Sabah Umno leaders who left the party are seasoned politicians, some of whom served as ministers, and still command respect from Sabahans.

State opposition party Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) president Jeffrey Kitingan had hinted that the group would eventually join a national-based party, with PPBM the closest bet due to its shared history with Umno.

Jeffrey even said the group could remain with Sabah’s opposition bloc Gabungan Bersatu Sabah (GBS).

The party-less leaders could find a new home in PPBM, and could sit together with PBS, PBRS and STAR in the GBS, as the state opposition.

Puyok said this would pose a strong challenge to Warisan as GBS would then have strong federal support through PPBM.

PPBM chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad has so far been circumspect in his response to the Sabah Umno exodus, but has not ruled out opening his party’s doors to defectors.

“We have to see how they behave. If they are supportive and didn’t do anything wrong in the past, we will accept them,” he said on Wednesday.

Puyok warned that it would be bad news for Warisan, which is leading the state government in Sabah, if PPBM is formed in the state with the new “independents” who quit Umno.

He said the group could emerge as the second fiddle in the Warisan-led Pakatan Harapan state government to represent the Sabah bloc.

Yesterday, during a special sitting of the Sabah state assembly, five of the nine assemblymen who quit Umno voted against the state government’s proposal to remove the two-term limit on the governor.

The other three were absent while only one, Kawang assemblyman Ghulam Haidar Khan, supported the bill.

Meanwhile, Puyok said former chief minister Musa Aman could be one of the brains behind the Sabah Umno exodus.

He said Musa, who was one of two Umno MPs who did not join the group, had a deep connection with Mahathir.

“It was Mahathir who appointed Musa as chief minister in 2003. Some people said in a way, Mahathir actually has a soft spot for Musa. So, maybe,” he said, referring to rumours of Musa’s involvement in engineering the mass exodus.

It looks like Sabah politics is in for a chaotic period again, despite the current state government, a combination of Warisan, PKR and DAP, commanding a two-third majority.

Unlike PPBM, Warisan is not part of PH, but has forged an electoral understanding with the coalition.

There have been rumblings among the PH coalition in Sabah over Warisan’s dominance in the state government.

Whether the presence of PPBM as a political force in Sabah will change this remains to be seen. -FMT