The political grapevine in Sabah is abuzz over former chief minister Musa Aman, who is regarded as a controversial figure, returning to the frontlines.
Sources have claimed that Pakatan Harapan chairperson Anwar Ibrahim is exploring the possibility of roping him to head the state coalition.
This, however, has caused uneasiness among Sabah Harapan, who believe the well-heeled veteran politician could turn out to be an albatross around the coalition’s neck instead.
According to sources, Anwar believes that Musa (above), who is still an Umno member, could strengthen Harapan to face the state election with his experience.
Malaysiakini was also informed that Anwar’s senior political aide Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin had purportedly met the former chief minister over this matter during his recent visit to the state.
"From what we heard, Shamsul met with Musa during his visit to Sabah last week," said a source on condition of anonymity.
Several Harapan insiders revealed that Musa's name had also cropped up during a dinner attended by Shamsul and state Harapan leaders during the visit but there was no mention of him leading the coalition.
However, Shamsul was tightlipped on the matter when contacted.
"My comment is no comment," he told Malaysiakini when quizzed on Musa’s possible move to Harapan and their alleged meeting.
Plan could backfire
On the other hand, PKR vice-president Awang Husaini Sahari said that he too had heard the “rumours”.
"While I did hear some rumours, I do not know in detail if there is any truth to them.
"Maybe, if this is really happening, I will be called by the top leadership in the next few days. But for now, I will treat them as rumours," added the Putatan PKR chief.
Meanwhile, Malaysiakini learned that certain quarters in Sabah Harapan are not keen on Musa and are worried that the plan could backfire.
One source described Musa as “desperate” after failing to secure a seat from BN for the 2020 state polls. Furthermore, his purported attempt to become the Sabah governor in 2022 also hit a brick wall.
"He has nothing left now but money," the source, who declined to be named, said.
Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Christina Liew is the current state Harapan chief. In August last year, Sangkar Rasam replaced Liew as the Sabah PKR head.
Musa, who led the Sabah state government from 2003 to 2018, was charged with 51 counts of corruption and money laundering in 2018 and 2019.
The prosecution first withdrew five of the charges in October 2019 while the remaining 46 charges were withdrawn in June 2020, leading him to be granted a full acquittal. - Mkini
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