Joining Pakatan Harapan as a member of the opposition coalition was not a rushed decision, but a thought that had been brewing since October last year, United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) president Wilfred Madius Tangau revealed.
The decision finally materialised when the Sabah-based Upko decided to back PKR president Anwar Ibrahim as their choice for prime minister in the middle of last month.
“That catalyses the process for us to become a member of Harapan because there's a need for the opposition to come together and unite,” said Madius in a recent interview with Malaysiakini.
According to the Tuaran MP, talks with Harapan’s top three leaders for “greater unity” among the opposition parties began after the Sabah state election last year.
Despite being approached by the Perikatan Nasional government for the party’s support for Budget 2021, Upko decided to remain in the opposition and stuck with its direction “for a truly new Malaysia” after rebranding itself as a multiracial party in 2019. Previously it was known as United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (also Upko), widely regarded as a Kadazan-Dusun-Murut-based party.
“In fact, at that time we expressed our interest to join (Harapan). We started the process of discussion in our party at various levels.
“Early this year, when Warisan announced it was already ‘Harapan minus’, this somehow expedited the process for us (to join Harapan)," said Madius.
Warisan president Shafie Apdal had earlier disassociated the party from the Harapan coalition but said the party would continue to cooperate as part of the opposition bloc.
“We are Harapan minus already, not Harapan Plus anymore. But as the opposition, we will work together for the sake of the people,” he was quoted saying by The Malay Mail this April.
Madius said Warisan’s stance helped Upko finalise its decision to become a Harapan member after various discussions with leaders of the bloc, including Sabah PKR chief Christina Liew.
“When we decided to give our support (to Harapan), we never changed. Right through this time, Anwar is our choice of prime minister.
“Despite (Harapan) only having 105 MPs, we thought that it is time for ourselves to consolidate. That is why we submitted our application (to join Harapan),” he said.
Efforts to unite Sabah opposition unfruitful
Madius also said he had previously proposed to form a proper opposition bloc in Sabah but to no avail.
“I think they (Warisan) were not keen to form a structure like Harapan to work together,” he briefly answered when asked why Upko did not continue to stay with Warisan.
However, the Sabah lawmaker has revealed more details in an online forum last Wednesday.
Free Malaysia Today reported Madius saying Upko’s Harapan membership does not mean the party has “separated” from Warisan.
He stressed that the “Harapan minus” statement by Shafie will not affect ties between the two parties.
“I did not have the opportunity to ask Shafie what ‘Harapan minus’ or ‘Warisan minus’ means, but when Christina Liew met him (Shafie), he explained that it means they will move independently.
“So when I discussed with Christina, she told me everything and therefore I need not seek further explanation (from Shafie) anymore. We (Upko and Warisan) are still in the opposition bloc and it does not mean we have been separated after we joined Harapan.
“We are still working together,” Madius was quoted saying.
He also confirmed that Upko, Warisan and Harapan Sabah previously have discussed forming a new political structure but it did not materialise.
Warisan previously announced their plan to expand to the peninsula last year, but no further details have been revealed since then.
Harapan cares about 'mainland Borneo'
Meanwhile, Madius shared his party’s vision and aspiration, which is to bring “Sabah’s perspective” into the national political discussion and the process of policymaking.
He lamented that the Borneo states have always been deemed as an “afterthought” by the federal government since 1963, which resulted in underdevelopment and low economic growth in Sabah and Sarawak, and also a lesser say in national politics.
This includes the “degradation” of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), which changed the status of Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners to merely the states in Malaysia, Madius said.
He also said that the perception that Putrajaya is the centre of Malaysia is wrong and that the Bornean states, which account for 60 percent of the country’s landmass, should be considered “mainland” Malaysia instead.
“The development and progress of Malaysia must have this perspective; we are far behind compared to the peninsula,” he stressed.
Based on Harapan’s track record, Madius said, Upko now sees the bloc as a multiracial coalition that treated Sabah and Sarawak as crucial parts in the whole development process of Malaysia.
“In other words, Sabah and Sarawak are not an afterthought for Harapan, compared to Barisan Nasional times,” he added.
Following that, Madius said MA63 should be restored and federal power decentralised to change the status quo of Malaysian politics.
“For Upko, these things have to be done. When you do it, you cannot just involve the discussion between Sabah, Sarawak and the federal government.
“We think that the discussion must involve the other 11 states in the peninsula. In other words, to effectively implement MA63, we must also involve various states as buy-in as we need their support,” he explained.
Madius, who was the deputy Sabah chief minister under Warisan’s government post-GE14, had long called for decentralisation and various parliamentary reforms.
He was also once the science, technology and innovation minister during Najib Abdul Razak’s time as prime minister from 2015 to 2018.
'We tried BN's way, time for something new'
By staying in the opposition, Upko not only suffered from defections but also lost a lot of "political benefits".
However, Madius stressed that the party has chosen to pursue new politics in Malaysia since they are rebranding themselves from a communal-based party to a progressive party that is open for all.
“It is no longer the old politics to become a minister or being in the government. We have done this before (during BN’s time) but the major issues of the country are not resolved."
Although Upko is a small party, Madius said it is no longer dependent on the government. Upko holds one seat in Parliament - Tuaran which is represented by Madius himself.
“Of course, there will be challenges. For example, some people might say ‘a leader from a multiracial party cannot become a prime minister’. This is wrong, we need to educate the people,” said Madius.
Although Madius did not name anyone, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had made statements to that effect.
On Aug 26, Harapan chief secretary Saifuddin Nasution Ismail announced that Upko has officially joined the coalition.
Upko secretary-general Nelson W Angang described Harapan as the coalition of progressive parties that “respect, understand, and share the same aspiration of our continuous fight for the MA63”.
“It is the right partner for Upko to forge a partnership with in our struggle to achieve the full realisation of MA63.
“For Upko to change the status quo, our voices and ideas must be heard, and it would be more effectively fought on a national platform with a coalition of national parties. Therefore, strong partnership at the federal level is highly needed,” said Nelson in the wake of Saifuddin’s announcement. - Mkini
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