“It is almost fait accompli. A clutch of Sabah MPs will leave the Barisan Nasional, resurrect a defunct Sabah political party and then join Pakatan Rakyat,” says the first paragraph of this news item in The Malaysian Insider.
Initial rumors right after the general elections point to an exodus of BN MPs from Sabah, Sarawak and even Peninsula Malaysia joining any of the three Pakatan Rakyat coalition parties - PKR, DAP and PAS. The speculation is fueled when it was reported that PKR’s de facto leader, Anwar Ibrahim, met a number of BN leaders from the East Malaysian states on the prospects of crossing over.
However, in recent days, it seems, any exodus of BN MPs in Sabah, at least, to cross over to Pakatan Rakyat will be done via a state level political party rather than joining any of the peninsula-based parties. A defunct party, the United Sabah National Organization (Usno), which was once headed by the late Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun, is speculated to be revived. Usno was disbanded in the early 1990s after the entry of UMNO into Sabah with most of their members joining UMNO en bloc.
Kalabakan MP, Ghapur Salleh said, “We have never jumped. We can move by simply forming a new party. Then we can decide where we want to sit… here or there,” when debating the royal address in Parliament earlier this week.
Since the general election, Sabah has been requesting for higher representation in the Federal Cabinet, but, the request was not met. Besides, local leaders want to Federal Government to pay 20% oil royalty instead of the current 5% to the state. They also urge the government to solve the long standing problem of illegal immigrants in the state.
It is believed that if Pakatan Rakyat can form the Federal Government soon, the matter will be looked into. For a start, a higher representation in the Federal Cabinet can be met, including offering a Deputy Prime Minister post to each of the 2 East Malaysian states.
Well, only time will tell, if the Land Below the Wind rumbles again, for the first time since 1994.
