KOTA KINABALU – Recent political undercurrents in Sabah are best described as a game where there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends, only permanent interests.
At an online forum on Thursday, both Sabah Umno chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and Warisan deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking did not rule out the possibility of their parties joining forces in the future.
They were posed the question on whether the opposing political camps could form the Sabah government after the next general election by way of a political realignment.
Bung Moktar and Leiking were panellists at an online forum titled “Beyond the 2020 Sabah Polls: Sabah Moving Forward”, organised by the Society Empowerment and Economic Development of Sabah.
Bung Moktar, who is also deputy chief minister, said the political situation in Sabah is fluid and collaborating with Warisan could tip the political balance in the state.
He said a Warisan-Umno pact could result in a fresh state election being called and this would not be good for the state’s economy and the well-being of the people.
Bung Moktar was referring to the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah government losing its majority if Sabah Umno abandoned the alliance to work with Warisan, which secured the most seats by a single party in the state polls last year.
However, both agreed that there should be a law to stop party-hopping.
It was, in fact, political crossovers that resulted in the dissolution of the Warisan-led state government paving the way for the 16th Sabah election in September last year.
Meanwhile Leiking said, even though he ruled out ever working with Umno while campaigning for the state polls last year, there was a rise in new leaders in Sabah Umno now and that they are not linked to the “kleptocrats”.
“But as far as I know, there are no negotiations because there are telephone conversations that have been tapped,” the Penampang MP said in an apparently tongue-in-cheek reference to recent leaked audio conversations which have dominated the Malaysian news cycle.
Although the new breed of leaders in Sabah Umno appear to be clear in their cause, he said a political realignment in Sabah, including possible cooperation with Umno, is not needed at the moment.
Instead, he said the pressing need right now is for leaders in the state to stand united as Sabahans.
“If we don’t trust each other it will never happen anyway. We need to do it as Sabahans first... Sabah can never reach there if we allow federal intervention,” he said. – The Vibes, May 8, 2021
