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KOTA KINABALU: Is there room in the new Sabah cabinet for a Chinese representative? That’s the question the community is asking after an overwhelming number of them rejected the Chinese candidates in the now-ruling GRS in favor of Warisan Plus.
Politicians like former assistant minister of state Pang Yuk Ming estimate that up to 95% of the votes of the Chinese community went to Warisan Plus candidates.
As a consequence, the Chinese GRS candidates from MCA, PBS, and SAPP were defeated, some losing their deposits, leaving the community without elected representatives who could be considered by Sabah’s new Chief Minister Hajiji Noor for his cabinet.
Hajiji, who has yet to appoint five more of his ministers, could appoint one or more representatives of the Chinese community to any of the six nominated assembly positions and then they could be appointed to the state cabinet.
The president of the Sabah Federation of Chinese Associations, Goh Tian Chuan, alluded to this when he asked the chief minister to form a state government that was multiracial, saying that a diverse cabinet was necessary to ensure that no particular race was marginalized.
However, Pang, who is the vice president of PCS, questioned whether it was possible for Hajiji to take such a move given the “complexity” within the GRS coalition comprising Umno, PPBM, PBS and STAR.
“Umno and other parties have negotiated for the different Cabinet portfolios. Do you think they would be willing to give up a portfolio to adapt to a community that had overwhelmingly supported the other side? ” I ask.
Political observer Hamid Ismail said that he personally believed that the Chinese community deserved a voice in the cabinet.
However, even if this does not materialize, he said there were alternatives for the community to be heard, including in the state legislature, where Chinese elected representatives of the now opposition Warisan Plus and PKR could voice their problems.
“Whatever happens, the prime minister will not abandon or abandon any community,” Hamid said.
Political analyst Lee Kuok Tiung said it was time for Sabahans and Malaysians in general to move beyond the idea that only an elected representative of a particular community could represent that group.
“At this time, it is not necessarily true that a Chinese should represent the Chinese community. We have to see ourselves first as Malaysians and not just as Sabahans or a particular ethnic group, ”he said.
