KOTA KINABALU – Political parties in Sabah and Sarawak are potentially looking at forming a Borneo alliance as they look to strengthen the lobby for East Malaysia’s interests amid constant bickering among national parties in the peninsula, an analyst has said.
The discord happening in both the ruling federal administration and the opposition is leaving a bad taste among local political parties, who are already talking about possible tie-ups ahead of the next general election that must be called by May next year, according to Universiti Malaysia Sabah political analyst Lee Kuok Tiung.
“There are already clear intentions of forming some kind of Borneo alliance, duplicating the politics in Sarawak,” he told The Vibes, pointing to the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) led by the undefeated PBB.
Lee said GPS had made early attempts at forming an inter-state alliance by approaching Warisan when it was still in charge of the Sabah government.
Warisan declined the invitation, but the potential remains for a Borneo bloc if the current Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) administration links up with its Sarawak counterpart, he said.
What is important is that they want to create a Borneo alliance and fight the Borneo agenda together with Sarawak,” he added.
However, it may prove difficult to secure consensus among Sabah’s political parties, who are embroiled in spats of their own.
Opposition parties Warisan and DAP have been sniping at each other for weeks after two DAP state assemblymen quit to join the former.
Sabah DAP has also trained its guns on Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH) and state PKR chief Datuk Christina Liew, who they have accused of absenteeism both in Parliament and in her parliamentary constituency of Tawau.
Liew denied the claims, saying that the accusations were ill-intentioned and done with “ulterior motives”.
The situation in the GRS camp may not be much better, where the ruling alliance’s leading Sabah Bersatu party is grappling with a tenuous partnership with Sabah Umno.
Bersatu and Umno have an acrimonious relationship at the national level, and there is no guarantee that the situation would not end up the same in Sabah, according to Lee.
He said both parties are putting in the effort to cooperate in Sabah for now, but things could go either way once the elections come around.
However, developments in national politics will have a bearing on whether Sabah Bersatu will continue to have the upper hand, according to Universiti Teknologi Mara’s Tony Paridi Bagang.
Tony said PH’s rejection of Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s olive branch was likely done in spite, as the former prime minister was a key operator behind the infamous Sheraton Move that caused the collapse of the PH federal administration.
If Bersatu is unable to fortify its Perikatan Nasional national coalition, it could provide Warisan or PH the leverage to offer a deal on their terms – and likely to the detriment of Sabah Bersatu, he said.
“Rejecting Muyhiddin’s offer seems to push Bersatu into a desperate and weak spot,” Tony said. – The Vibes, April 10, 2022
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