Sabah coup bid will turn away more KDM voters, says analyst

 

The prospect of a Peninsula-based party trying to topple a Sabah-bred coalition will not go down well among the Kadazandusun Murut, says a political analyst. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Umno and Warisan will lose more support among the Kadazandusun Murut (KDM) community following the failed attempt to topple the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah state government, says a political analyst.

“It has to do with anti-federal sentiments where being ‘Sabahan first’ is important,” said Lee Kuok Tiung of Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

“(This sentiment) has grown stronger in KDM areas in the last few years,” he said.The attempt by Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin to overthrow the Sabah-based ruling coalition would be frowned upon by the community, he said.

Last week, Bung announced the party was withdrawing support for chief minister Hajiji Noor. However, five of Umno’s 17 assemblymen pledged support for Hajiji and torpedoed the attempt by Bung, Warisan and Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Malaysia to bring down Hajiji’s government.

Lee said support for Umno in the KDM community has already been waning especially with more KDM-centric parties being set up in recent years. There are said to be at least 22 KDM-majority seats among the 73 state seats in Sabah.

As for Warisan, Lee said the recent turmoil would not have that much of an impact as the Shafie Apdal-led party enjoyed very little support from the KDM community to begin with.

“Warisan never managed to penetrate the KDM areas,” he told FMT, as in the past the party had to rely on its former vice president Peter Anthony and deputy president Darell Leiking to rally support among the community.

Peter has since quit and formed the KDM-based party PKDM while Darell suffered a setback after losing the Penampang parliamentary seat in November.

Sabah UiTM senior lecturer Tony Paridi Bagang also said Umno and Warisan risk losing KDM support.

He pointed out that Hajiji is the first chief minister to appoint two deputy chief ministers from the KDM community, Dr Joachim Gunsalam and Jeffrey Kitingan. - FMT