East Malaysia’s fate still in the hands of Putrajaya

 

What was supposed to be the mother of all elections, according to Umno’s Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, is now settling down to being more of the same.

For voters, the only confusion is about which party is with Pakatan Harapan, Perikatan Nasional, Gabungan Parti Sarawak or Gabungan Rakyat Sabah.

Some may like the component party but not the coalition. A good example is in Sabah where locals may like the GRS local component parties like PBS or STAR, but do not like Bersatu or its partnership with the tainted Umno-Barisan Nasional.

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The trend towards acronyms

It’s a trend in the Malaysian political scene to form a coalition with acronyms as the identifier in flags, banners, and uniforms.

One voter said: “This is designed to confuse the voting public who may not be aware of who is actually controlling the puppet strings. As far as I am concerned, whether GRS, PH or Warisan, all roads lead to KL and they control our purse strings. The same players are hiding behind some guise or form”.

Peddling the same

In Sabah the political parties are regurgitating the same issues, mainly the Malaysia Agreement 1963, undocumented migrants, development and autonomy. You will find the same issues in each election since the formation of Malaysia.

Nothing has changed. Sabah is still the state with the highest poverty rate, bulk of oil revenue taken by KL, and no end in sight for the disputed sharing of the 40% formula on tax revenue stated in the constitution.

Nothing has changed

Five years from now Sabah and Sarawak will be talking about the same issues: the federal budget allocation and the erosion of state’s rights. After the election there will be another MA63 committee formed to discuss Sabah rights and the federal government will go through the same motions, and all discussions on MA63 will be put under the OSA (Official Secrets Act).

The restitution of Article 1 (2) of the Borneo status, is just that, a restitution. Putting back Sabah and Sarawak’s status as it was before, which was taken away in 1976. There was no accompanying resolution on autonomy, oil and gas rights, and the 40% revenue sharing for Sabah, starving Sabah and Sarawak of the much-needed development funds.

There are small gains like the petroleum sales tax and “others” but most voters I polled cannot remember the “others”.

Dream of being kingmakers

Many Sabahans and Sarawakians are hoping the two Borneo states will become kingmakers in case of a hung parliament, as Rafizi Ramli of Pakatan Harapan has predicted. The word “kingmaker” is overused by politicians. The accurate term is “a confidence and supply arrangement” as what has transpired during Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s term as PM.

In September 2021, Ismail’s coalition and the main opposition bloc signed a cooperation pact to ensure political stability. Ismail took office with a slim parliamentary majority, becoming the third prime minister in the GE14 period. The pact covers six areas including strengthening a Covid-19 plan, transformation in governance, parliamentary reforms, and freedom of the judiciary.

Sabah and Sarawak in reality still need the help of the ruling government to work their agenda. On their own they will still not have the power or the number of parliamentary seats for them to be able to fulfil the demands of the voters.

The Borneo bloc is a dream as both Sabah and Sarawak are competitors to gain as much for their state and constituencies. Sarawak has a more aggressive agenda as GPS is a solid coalition and GRS a wavering coalition as Sabah is controlled by Umno or parties in PH and PN.

Sarawak is in a better situation to get their demands whereas Sabah is much more about “hot air”. Sabah has Sarawak to thank for initiating the sales tax claims which both states are now enjoying.

No galvanising leader of any stature

There are no current galvanising leaders of any stature in Sabah and Sarawak at this time. Don’t hope for a Martin Luther King type, Nelson Mandela or Aung San Suu Kyi.

The closest we had in Borneo was the late Adenan Satem, the former Sarawak chief minister who was a genuine fighter of MA63. The no frills “take-me-as-I- am” Adenan gave some hope for East Malaysians that there can be a political solution to recognise Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners of Malaysia.

All eyes on KDM young leader’s fight

The most interesting fight is in the Kadazan Dusun Murut heartland of Penampang and the bellwether for the KDM community. Ewon Benedick (PH) and Darell Leiking (Warisan) are in a slug fest to win the hearts and minds of the KDM community.

Ewon is the parachute candidate. He could have chosen a safer seat but decided to go for broke. His challenge shows the KDMs that there is no chance of building a united bloc for Sabah, what more with Sarawak.

DPM post as bait, and other goodies

The election goodies offered apart from the fulfilment of MA63 is now the DPM post, one for Sabah and Sarawak. If this happens, it will be like the three stooges trying to manage Malaysia. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.