KOTA KINABALU – The fall of the Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) government in the 16th state election came as a shock to many who had predicted that the native party would return albeit with a slim majority.
Although party president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal had received resounding support from the urban masses, it seems that the Kadazan Dusun Murut’s (KDM) fear of Warisan’s approval of undocumented Filipino migrants in the state turned the tide against him.
It was a strategy played very well by the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition consisting of Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) together with Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS).
The KDM community is dominant in 26 of the 73 seats in the state.
Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Oh Ei Sun expressed shock over the GRS victory, as the incumbent Warisan had seemed very strong going into the polls after a gruelling two-week campaign period.
“I’m very shocked, as Warisan looked good going into the election. It seems that the unity message couldn’t penetrate the interior (of Sabah) that was still captured by smear tactics,” Oh said.
It appears that Shafie’s message of unity among Sabahans only resonates with the urban elite as the KDM people fear that their Bumiputera status is under threat by undocumented Suluk migrants from southern Philippines.
When met during the campaign trail, several members of the KDM community who declined to be named told The Vibes that the Filipino Suluk “are an aggressive bunch who are here to make trouble”.
Although the east Malaysian state has always prided itself in being against racist and religious politics that is prevalent in west Malaysia, their acceptance or tolerance of others stop short when it comes to the Suluks.
A former Kaamatan beauty queen even went as far as describing the undocumented migrants “as bad as the Rohingyas”.
Many locals also blame the undocumented migrants for taking up their jobs and some believe that low-cost homes built for Sabahans have been taken up by these migrants.
Alarm over Pakatan’s plan for immigrant pass
Oh also pointed out that when the federal government was previously under Pakatan Harapan, which Warisan was a part of, it had planned to introduce the Sabah Temporary Pass (PSS) in September last year.
This reinforced KDM folks’ fear that they are going to be overtaken by undocumented migrants.
Initially, the PSS was aimed at standardising three different immigrant documents – IMM13, Burung-Burung card and the Census Certificate. It was supposed to come into force on June 1 this year.
However, as a result of the Kimanis parliamentary by-election in January this year which saw a BN victory, Shafie announced that he was scrapping the plan.
“It (PSS) was seen as proof of that insidious allegation (that Warisan is a party favouring PTI). They (GRS) painted Warisan as a PTI party. It struck the deepest fear of the KDM (communities).
“This is a long-seeded fear. The KDM thought of themselves as the Orang Asal (natives),” explained Oh.
Other aspects that contributed to Warisan’s defeat include the low voter turnout which stood only at 58% as of 3pm on polling day.
This could be attributed to political fatigue which stemmed from political frogs as well as the fear of the Covid-19 pandemic which had hit Sabah’s east coast – areas which are Warisan’s stronghold.
Another blow that struck Shafie’s coalition was the multitude of multiple corner fights across the state. The election saw a record of 447 hopefuls from 12 parties, including 56 independents battling it out for the 73 state seats.
Political observers had agreed that the multi-cornered fights would work in either coalition’s favour and in the end they became big nails that shut the lid on Warisan’s coffin. - The Vibes, September 27, 2020.
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