The parties play on ‘Sabah identity’ and economic development to attract voters in state polls

KOTA KINABALU: Although he had already spoken for more than 45 minutes, Sabah’s Chief Minister, Shafie Apdal, remained as fiery as ever.

At an evening rally this past Wednesday (September 16) in the quiet town of Tuaran, not far from the state capital, Kota Kinabalu, Shafie, who extolled her local middle-class roots, looked at every opportunity to focus on how Malaysia’s federal government does not empathize with the concerns of the majority of Sabahans and the difficulties they face.

Today, Sabah is governed by a local party – Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) – not Kuala Lumpur, not the federal government. Sabah belongs to its people, ”he said.

“Let’s use this state election to send a message to Kuala Lumpur that Sabah belongs to everyone,” he added to enthusiastic applause.

For this election, Shafie leads the Warsian Plus bloc, which comprises Warisan, the national parties United Progressive Kinabalu Organization (UPKO) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) Democratic Action Party (DAP), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Parti Amanah Negara ( Amanah).

Warisan Plus is the incumbent, and its main rivals are the state opposition alliance Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), which consists of Perikatan Nasional (PN), Barisan Nasional (BN) and other state parties such as Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) and Mi Solidarity Party with the Homeland (STAR).

While GRS’s partners are the opposition in state government, they hold power at the federal level.

And as the campaign for the state elections entered the eleventh day on Tuesday, candidates from both sides have vowed to uphold Sabah’s unique multiracial identity and fight for more resources to boost development in the state of Borneo.

GRS, for example, relies on its “Love Sabah” campaign slogan to convince voters that they will serve the people regardless of their political leanings or ethnic background.

Sabah’s position on the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63), the legal document on the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, is also another hot topic in the election campaign.

READ: As Sabah heads to the polls on September 26, what is at stake for the main political blocs?

THE “SABAH IDENTITY”

Many Sabahans the CNA spoke to said they hope that the state’s indigenous identities and local beliefs will not be diluted.

The main ethnic groups in Sabah are the Kadazandusun, the Bajau and the Chinese. Only about 5 percent of Sabah’s 3.5 million people are Malays.

In terms of religion, although more than half of the people in Sabah are Muslims, there are a considerable number of Christians, Buddhists, and minority groups who practice animism.

Ms. Rozaline Jinius, a voter of Kadazandusun descent living in Tuaran, told CNA that GRS has close ties to Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and the United Malaysia National Organization (UMNO), and this will not sit well with her. good to Sabah. multicultural communities.

“I think parties like the PAS want to implement the Syrian law in Malaysia and the Perikatan Nasional government is very pro-Malay. The Sabahans will never support this, ”Ms. Jinius said.

“Warisan Plus knows that Sabahans belong to diverse religions and cultures. These types of racial policies that could work in the peninsula cannot be imposed here, ”he added.

The PAS will not participate in the Sabah state elections this time in an effort to strengthen cooperation in the PN coalition, according to the party’s vice president, Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.

READ: ‘Help us get our jobs back’ – Rebuilding the tourism sector is a hot topic in Sabah state elections

However, Ms Michelle Michael, a Chinese BN supporter living in Api-Api in Kota Kinabalu, told CNA that she believes the GRS coalition is more in line with Sabah’s identity because it is focused on serving the people, and not in “hungry power.” “As leaders in Warisan Plus.

“I believe that Sabah BN has served the state for many decades before Warisan came to power in 2018. He understands the needs of Sabah’s diverse cultures,” he said.

In the initial period of the campaign, GRS, led by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, released its manifesto “I promise” for the elections.

Later, in a conference with journalists, the head of PN Sabah, Hajiji Mohd Noor, was asked how GRS intends to fight for Sabahan’s identity, noting that the coalition’s slogan “Love Sabah” exemplifies this.

“It is the desire of GRS to provide the best service to the people of Sabah regardless of their political ideology or racial or religious background,” he added.

Hajiji is one of the key leaders of the GRS, and Muhyiddin has touted him as a possible prime minister if the coalition wins on September 26.

However, he must first win the Sulaman seat he is contesting, and will face his nephew, Aliasgar Basri of Warisan and Rekan Hussein of Parti Cinta Sabah.

In an interview with CNA, Aliasgar said that Warisan Plus is the only coalition that understands Sabahan’s multiracial identity.

He noted how Shafie has equally distributed ministerial posts in his state cabinet among Malaysian, Chinese and Kadazandusun representatives.

“He knows that Sabahan’s identity is about treating all races and religions equally, unlike (GRS), which has very Malaysian-centric policies,” he added.

COMMITMENT TO IMPLEMENT MA63

What has been clearly on the agenda of many of the candidates to woo voters is to promise that they will fight to restore the status of Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners of the peninsula, as enshrined by MA63

In an effort to gain support for the GRS coalition, Mr. Muhyiddin announced that the government will form a special council, of which he is the chairman, to solve the problems of MA63.

Some of the issues that have been key points of controversy are increasing royalties from natural resources like oil and gas granted to Sabah, and giving the state more administrative rights over areas like education and religion.

In 2019, PH, which was then the federal government, made a proposed constitutional amendment on the state of Sabah and Sarawak. However, after a heated debate in parliament, the vote on the amendment did not pass.

Some politicians, including those from Sabah, argued that the amendment was purely aesthetic and did not represent a real return to the MA63 document.

Mr. Aliasgar told CNA that Warisan has been working hard to resolve this.

He said that in Shafie’s 26-month tenure as prime minister, he had worked with the federal government to resolve most of the problems with MA63.

“He understands what the locals want and he’s almost there in terms of negotiations. If he is elected again, I am sure he will finish the job, “he added.

Meanwhile, the BN leader for Sabah polls and another possible candidate for chief minister if he wins GRS, Bung Moktar Radin, has said that it is part of the coalition’s manifesto to form a Sabah Oil Council to increase the payment of Royalties from oil so that the funds can be used for education and other development projects in the state.

However, he warned that it may not be possible to increase the oil royalty assigned by the federal government from 5% to 20%.

“We have done our research on the 1963 Malaysia Agreement on Oil Royalties and there is no way we can get 20 percent from the federal government,” he told reporters after a rally.

He said that while negotiating more royalties would be difficult, there were other methods to get more funds for Sabah.

“We will discuss this with Petronas … but first we rule the state,” he said.

STRUGGLE TO LIFT SABAHANS FROM POVERTY

According to Romzi Ationg, a senior lecturer at the Universiti Malaysia Sabah, while it is important to ensure that policies are fair for all races, it is more important that candidates show people that they could fight for economic development.

He said candidates should show voters that they could get more funding so that people can break the cycle of poverty.

“You know, there is a feeling in Sabah that suggests they have been marginalized for so long. Although Sabah is one of the richest states in the county (in terms of resources), when it comes to the allocation of funds, we are not given the right proportion for development, ”said Mr. Ationg.

“We don’t like the way the federal government has treated us so far,” he added.

LEE: Early elections can be held if Gabungan Rakyat Sabah wins Sabah polls, says Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin

He explained that Sabah is rich in resources such as timber, palm oil, as well as oil and gas, but it has many people living in poverty.

According to figures released by Malaysia’s national statistics department, Sabah was ranked the poorest state in Malaysia in 2019, with 19.5 percent or nearly 100,000 households living in poverty.

The poorest districts in Sabah are Tongod, Pitas, Kota Marudu, Beluran and Telupid.

Both Mr. Shafie and Mr. Hajiji have observed this problem in their respective campaigns and are committed to doing more to solve it.

Shafie said he would seek to challenge the federal government for more resources, especially in terms of oil and gas revenue, and vowed to help locals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic find work.

Meanwhile, Hajiji said that if elected, GRS will receive more power and resources from the federal government, since they can work together.

“If elected, the federal government will give the state government autonomy here to determine the direction of Sabah, provided it is in line with the plans proposed by the federal government,” he told reporters.