By Datuk Philip Golingai
THE stage is set for Sabah’s most fragmented, fluid, and, frankly, messy election ever.
With a final list of 596 candidates for 73 seats confirmed yesterday on nomination day, let’s take a closer look at the key players – the good, the bad, and the ugly vying for victory.
But I won’t categorise who is good, bad, and ugly – you figure it out!
In a political landscape that is becoming increasingly toxic, with leaders whose toxicity is becoming entwined in their party’s DNA, there’s still a Mr Nice Guy in Sabah politics.
I looked up my coverage of the 2020 state polls and found this: “He’s the ‘Mr Nice Guy’ of Sabah politics.
For those who are tired of the toxic rivalry between Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal and [now Tun] Musa Aman, Hajiji is a non-toxic choice for chief minister,” I wrote, referring to Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
I believe those words remains true.
Hajiji is not nasty. But his niceness can also be a weakness in cutthroat politics.
The Gabun-gan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) chairman and PGRS president will be defending his Sulaman seat, which he has held since 1990.
While I do think there’s a lot of toxicity in politics generally nowadays, by and large Sabah politics still has that “kita semua saudara” (we are all kin) vibe.
Upko president and Penampang MP Datuk Ewon Benedick is emerging as a Sabah First hero after he resigned as the federal Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister.
He quit the Cabinet one week before nomination day, citing his principled disagreement with the Federal Government’s handling of Sabah’s 40% revenue entitlement under the Malaysia Agree-ment 1963 (MA63).
Benedick’s move and Upko’s departure from the Pakatan Harapan coalition could alter Sabah’s political landscape, with his party aiming for 25 seats.
He should be able to retain his Kadamaian seat.
Maverick politician Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, who is Sabah STAR president and Keningau MP, is defending his Tambunan seat.
Kitingan’s 792 days, beginning in 1991, detained under the Internal Security Act for fighting for Sabah rights and the recent decision that his party would go solo should be enough reasons for the voters to retain him as their representative.
At Dewan Tun Said in Kota Belud, former Sabah chief minister Datuk Salleh Said Keruak is defending his seat in Usukan.
The hall is named after his illustrious father, who served as chief minister (1975-1976) and governor (1987-1994).
Salleh, who is an inclusive politician as he believes that all Sabahans have a stake in the state, is a forerunner to be CM if Umno wins big.
And what of Umno’s poster boy for the Sabah polls?
Well, it doesn’t have one, even though Sabah Umno chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin has declared to the media: Why not try me as CM?
For a journalist, having a Rodrigo Duterte-style chief minister would certainly be colourful, especially since Bung Moktar, much like the former Philippines president, is known for his fiery language.
However, his acceptability as a CM is marred by his court cases revolving around three corruption charges.
Bung Moktar will defend Lamag, which he won in the 2020 Sabah polls.
The other chief minister contender is Parti Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, who held that post from 2018 to 2020.
He needs to win a clear majority – a minimum of 37 seats – to secure a second term as CM.
One of the party’s sure-win seats is Shafie’s Senallang.
When GRS chairman Hajiji announced the coalition’s candidates on Wednesday, the president of one of his component parties got involved in a bet with the media.
Usno president Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia challenged the press to bet with him whether he can win the Pintasan seat that he lost in 2020 by 84 votes.
Most Sabahans will bet that he will lose in Pintasan. But as Pandikar noted, they are not Pintasan voters.
It will be interesting to know whether Pandikar will bet that his wife, Puan Sri Diana Diego, can win in Sekong as a GRS candidate.
It appears that they are the only husband and wife running in the polls.
There’s a meme of Datuk Jamawi Jaafar, PKR’s candidate for Melalap.
It shows him wearing the uniforms of Umno, Warisan, PGRS, and PKR.
He joined PKR a few days before he was named its candidate. He is the candidate that former PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli called “calon lompat pasang siap” (political frog).
A controversial PKR candidate is Datuk Yamani Hafez Musa, the son of Sabah governor and former chief minister Tun Musa Aman, who is fielded for Sindumin.
Yamani Hafez won the Sipitang parliamentary constituency, which includes the state seat of Sindumin, under Umno in 2018 before later joining Bersatu.
Musa’s other son is Hazem Mubarak Musa, who is contesting Sungai Manila on the GRS ticket.
Musa’s younger brother, Parti Cinta Sabah president Tan Sri Anifah Aman, is running for GRS in Bongawan.
Their nephews, Datuk Annuar Ayub and Datuk Ishak Ayub, who are the sons of Datuk Ayub Aman – Musa and Anifah’s brother – are defending Liawan under GRS against his cousin, Datuk Nik Mohd Nadzri Nik Zawawi, and Bingkor under STAR, respectively.
Some siblings are pitted against each other in the same seat or in other parties in different seats.
In Petagas, former Putatan MP Awang Husaini Sahari of PKR is running against his brother, Awang Ahmad Sah Sahari, an independent candidate.
Awang Ahmad won the seat in 2020 under Warisan before defecting to GRS; however, GRS didn’t field Awang Ahmad so he’s running as an independent.
In Pitas, Datuk Harun Ismail of Warisan is facing his brother, Datuk Bolkiah of Umno.
In Inanam, former Sepanggar MP Datuk Eric Majimbun’s son Shone Majimbun, of the Black Wave independent grouping, and daughter Edna Jessica Majimbun, of Warisan, are among the 13 candidates.
The Bahanda family has three siblings seeking to be assemblymen in three different seats under three different political groupings.
Parti KDM deputy president and Kota Marudu MP Wetrom Bahanda has made way for his sister, Datuk Redonah Bahanda of GRS to run in his Bandau seat while he contests in neighbouring Matunggong.
Their brother, Verdon Bahanda, who is Kudat MP and leader of the Black Wave movement, will stand in Tanjung Kapor.
The two MPs are trying to accomplish the feat of being an MP as well as an assemblyman, something that people think deserves a meme – it suggests sarcastically they have superhero powers.
Don’t worry, it says, Verdon can fly from Putrajaya to return anytime when the Tanjung Kapor voters need him or when he has a meeting in the peninsula and Kudat at the same time.
He can fly back from over there and, on the way, stop to visit his family briefly in Matunggong.
To be fair to them, they are not the only MPs who are contesting in the Sabah polls.
There are 12 MPs out of 25 from Sabah who are either defending their state seats or are trying to win one.
The Apdal brothers are also vying for seats. Shafie is defending his Senallang seat and his brother, Datuk Yusof Apdal, who is Warisan’s Lahad Datu MP, is contesting in Silam.
Former Sabah chief minister and SAPP president Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee has two children running, Yit Jee in Likas and Yvonne in Segama.
The good, the bad, and the ugly are now all on the ballot.
Sabahans must choose wisely which one they want to represent them in the Sabah assembly. – the star.com.my
Editor: The views expressed here are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the talantang.com
