By Bugi Wijaya
Sabah BN will be bracing for a “SNAP State Election” in latest in November 2011 this year. According to a source closed to Minister of Science Technology and Innovation, Datuk Dr. Maximus Ongkili the snap poll will be a break from holding the state elections simultaneously with the parliamentary elections. Reverting to the old practices of holding its own state elections prior to 2004, this snap polls is hope to gauge the support of the people of Sabah as a strong hold state of BN after Johor and Sarawak.
As a fixed deposit of BN, victory in the Sabah will eradicate any fallout from the recent opposition BERSIH 2.0 movement and be a morale booster for Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak to lead BN to a new mandate from the people.
The uneasiness felt by the Prime Minister who is also BN Chairman is understandable considering the fact that a “Majlis Penerangan Perdana” briefing for UMNO members and certain NGOs were held at the Putra World Trade Centre with last minute notice. In the briefing Najib lambast the opposition led by Datuk Sri Anwar Ibrahiim who has created chaos with the BERSIH 2.0 rally. In reiterating himself as a responsible leader for Malaysia Najib choose not to mobilise the 3 million strong members of UMNO to counter such rallies and left it to the authorities to act fairly.
DAP Sabah taking it supporting BERSIH 2.0 in an undisclosed location
The fall out from the BERSIH 2.0 has been underestimated and the silence by other BN component leaders has been deafening. With certain factions of the ruling party not pleased with how this BERSIH 2.0 or “BERSHIT” as some of them called it, Najib is under pressure to step in and trouble shoot the public relations disasters caused by others.
In calling for a snap poll in Sabah, BN hope to ride on the differences of the various opposition parties in Sabah which have not been able to come to a common stand on seats allocation and also power sharing with Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) prefering a autonomy rule unlike PAS, PKR and DAP which are all linked to Peninsular based parties and are not autonomous.
However the calling of a state elections could be risky for the state BN under Chief Minster Datuk Musa Hj Aman as the issues of illegal immigrants, high cost of essential goods, struggles of the business community and the recent electricity tariff hike has not gone down easy with the man of the street to the business community.
It would also be an opportunity to Musa opponents within the state BN ranks to use this elections as a report card on his performances. Afterall, they only need to win the parliamentary elections to form the federal government. The state BN component LDP has been vocal against Musa as the chief minister and they have alligned themselves with UMNO Vice PResident Datuk Shafie Afdal who is the Federal Minster for Rural Development. With Musa relying much on PBS under President Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan thus alienating UPKO and PBRS, the gripes vine has heard how the other components were not even consulted o the electricity tariff hike.
How the local politics in Sabah BN will be play out in these few months will depend on the movement and network of the key players during the muslim fasting month and the subsequent muslim festival. So let us see who break fast with whom and what hold for Sabah BN under Musa.
Bugi Wijaya’s earlier article:- BERSIH 2.0 – The Day After in Sabah
The Day After is a 1983 American television movie which aired on November 20, 1983, on the ABCtelevision network. It was seen by more than 100 million people during its initial broadcast.
The film portrays a fictionalwar between NATO forces and the Warsaw Pact that rapidly escalates into a full scale nuclear exchangebetween the United Statesand the Soviet Union. It focuses on the residents of Lawrence, Kansas, and Kansas City,Missouri, as well as several family farms situated next to nuclear missile silos.
Unlike the movie where there was chaos and the main characters had all died in the end, there was calmness and peace in Sabah after the “BERSIH 2.0 rally yesterday.
Here in Sabah especially the state capital Kota Kinabalu, the day after is the normal busy Gaya Street Fair which are packed with local and tourists alike. However the normalcy ends here.
Among the topics in the coffee shops and the churchgoers, the topic is none other than the BERSIH campaign.
A random check with the people here at Gaya Street actually saw the anger of the people against the police for the numerous road blocks in the state capital which contributed to traffic jams.
Jacob said that it is an insult to the local that the police should mount road blocks
to look people in yellow instead of weeding out the illegal immigrants.“In Sabah, it’s a known fact that the PTI (pendatang tanpa izin i.e. illegal immigrant) problem is serious and they never want to solve it but yet I witnessed myself a lady in yellow hauled out from the car in front of me to be
questioned,” adds Jacob, “and that is for wearing yellow.”
A trader who declined to be indentified at the street fair said that demonstrations are not the culture of the Sabah people and the last previous demonstrations are mostly the ruling party
UMNO style. “In 1986, the demonstrations participated by mostly illegal immigrants destroyed the Karamunsing warehouse are”.
As the net sphere gets overwhelms by the BERSIH 2.0 in Kuala Lumpur and even Deputy
Higher Education Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah warns that “Blocking Bersih has hurt BN”, (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/blocking-bersih-has-hurt-bn-says-deputy-minister/) the Sabah state security council under Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Hj Aman
has better get moving on the grouses of the people on the illegal immigrant issues which has continued to plague Sabah with numerous stories of “Project ICs” and phantom voters.
Whether this will be translated into a lost of votes for Sabah BN in the comingelection which are expected to be called soon will be seen as the day comes nearer.
Someone OUT THERE IS really worried:-
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/07/09/sabah-police-in-surprise-raid-on-sapp-hq/
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Has Sarawakian DJ Peter John aka Apai orang Utan left the UK based Radio Free Sarawak to be in Sabah? It is on everyones lips that he has seek greener pastures or apparently he has been”sacked” or asked to go willingly. Certainly one has to interview the man himself as our source says,” he is now in Malaysia and you can contact him.” Did we meet him..hmmm?
Yong, in his opening address through a recorded radio message said the event was spurred by Bersih 2.0 call for free and fair elections so the theme for its Radio SabahTv will be “BERSIH, BERANI, BENAR”. He said SAPP supports the 8 points of Bersih 2.0 and to stop the electoral corruption by the BN government.
Bugi says,”Yellow is the colour now which BN/UMNO is so afraid. It was once Green(associated with PAS) Orange (Hindraf) and also Black (Teoh Beng Hock) The time has come for BN Sabah to stand out and be counted.It is indeed high time that the internet cyber team rolls into Sabah to assist the machinery which is still living in the past era of winning the hearts and minds of the voters. The truth hurts and if Sabah BN still think they can steamrolled the opposition they just have to look back at these two dates 308 and 416.”
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