Turmoil in Sabah: This is not quite the end - analysts

 

After almost a week of political instability in Sabah, new cabinet members resulting from a reshuffle were sworn in at the Istana Seri Kinabalu today.

But political analysts are not so sure this truly signals the end of turmoil in the state.

Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Sabah senior lecturer Tony Paridi Bagang said political stability remains uncertain unless Sabah BN chief Bung Moktar Radin and Warisan fully accept the new cabinet line-up.

“There is a possibility that (Sabah Chief Minister) Hajiji Noor’s rivals might challenge his cabinet in court.

“Warisan, for instance, has been voicing out Hajiji’s position based on the state constitution,” Tony said when contacted today.

Warisan president Shafie Apdal was previously reported saying the crisis in the state was Hajiji’s fault as the Sabah constitution states that a leader of a political party who commands the majority of the House should hold the chief minister’s post.

Warisan president Shafie Apdal

Shafie said Hajiji is “not a party leader and has no party” since the latter quit Bersatu in December last year.

Partial reflection

Last Friday, Bung announced that the state BN was withdrawing its support for Hajiji as the chief minister.

However, five BN lawmakers rebelled against Bung and pledged to continue supporting Hajiji.

Among the five were Shahelmey Yahya (BN-Tanjung Keramat) and James Ratib (BN-Sugut).

In the cabinet reshuffle today, Shahelmey was promoted to deputy chief minister today, replacing Bung who was dropped. Meanwhile, James was one of the new cabinet ministers sworn in.

The reshuffle also saw two Pakatan Harapan lawmakers join the cabinet.

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) political analyst Arnold Puyok said the two BN lawmakers included by Hajiji in the new Sabah cabinet might not necessarily be representing BN nor endorsed by their own party.

As such, he added, the new cabinet only partially reflects the unity government at the federal level.

While the reshuffle may temporarily suppress the political stalemate in the state, if the rebel BN lawmakers are sacked from their party, this means BN will no longer be represented in the state government.

“If this happens, it will pose another problem as federal BN cannot afford to allow Sabah BN to be sidelined in the state government,” Arnold said when contacted by Malaysiakini.

No room to manoeuvre

Council of Professors senior fellow and political analyst Jeniri Amir had a similar sentiment as Arnold in that he also thinks the turmoil is only being temporarily suppressed by the new cabinet reshuffle.

For right now at least, there is not much room for either Bung or Shafie to manoeuvre, Jeniri said.

Sabah BN chief Bung Moktar Radin

However, he does not believe this is truly the end of the instability as long as some of the parties, such as Sabah BN and Warisan, remain unhappy with the arrangement.

“I don’t think it is going to be the end because as you know, instability is very common (in Sabah) as people try to manoeuvre each other because they have their own agenda to become the chief minister of Sabah.

“(But) the current situation is difficult for (Bung and Shafie) for the time being, as long as the five BN members are with Hajiji,” he told Malaysiakini.

The best way to resolve these undercurrents would be to form a real unity government comprising all the political parties, he added.

Tony also said political compromise is highly needed in Sabah for the sake of its people.

“Sabah political leaders should learn from the past. Political impasse brings nothing to the people and the development of the state,” he said. - Mkini