Turmoil is bad, but Putrajaya fears a united Sabah

 

From Clement Stanley

Not even 10 days into 2023 and just days away from celebrating Chinese New Year, Sabahans find their lives being turned upside down by Bung Mokhtar Radin and Shafie Apdal plus one or two other insignificant political parties such as Peter Anthony’s KDM.

Why ? Because the thirst for power among some politicians knows no bounds.

Why is it that Sabah is the most volatile and politically unstable among all the states? Is it because we are surrounded by political animals ? Is it because of the spoils and rewards that come with victory or is it because we are led by national leaders who would rather see a fragmented Sabah than a united Sabah?

A united Sabah would spell trouble for any prime minister leading the country. You only need to look at Sarawak to see how their demands are met almost in an instant. Sarawak is so well entrenched politically that Putrajaya surrenders to their demands.

But in Sabah, there has always been a fight to the finish between political parties that were tacitly encouraged to fight each other – Usno and Upko in the 60s; Berjaya and Usno in the 70s; Berjaya and PBS in the 80s; PBS and Barisan Nasional in the 90s; BN and Warisan in recent times.

This divide and rule policy has certainly not brought any benefit to Sabah. It never will.

A recent attempt of creating a unity government in Sabah has failed miserably. There can never ever be another unity government as long as you have politicians whose lust for power and greed goes unabated, as well as a prime minister who does not stamp his authority or is interested enough in reigning in trouble-making politicians.

We are at the mercy of the powers that be.

The people in Sabah are tired and exhausted by these shenanigans. We want to get on with our lives and earn our keep. Is that so difficult to understand ? We need to attract investments. We need to create jobs. We need to assure investors that Sabah is a land of opportunity run by a stable government.

We need to be in unison politically and in one voice for the betterment of Sabah. Sabahans want and need a sense of well being. Why is this so hard to come by? - FMT

Clement Stanley is an FMT reader.

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