Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!
KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - It looks like the political ground is shifting again - this time in Sabah - but whether the move has the power to eventually affect Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's federal government or stay just a localized power struggle remains to be seen.
"Obviously, it's a fight for positions and the right to control the state government. But there will also be some implications for the federal government led by Anwar - even if muted at the beginning but can be serious later on. It all depends on what sort of configurations materialize from the negotiations that are now being held behind closed doors in Kota Kinabalu," a political analyst told Politics Now!
According to Free Malaysia Today, an alliance between Warisan and Sabah Umno to oust Chief Minister Hajiji Noor is “almost a certainty”.
“Warisan agreed to our requests and additional conditions,” an unnamed source was reported as saying, without divulging details on the requests or conditions.
Hajiji has warned of snap state elections being held as early as next year, even though the term of the current Sabah government will expire only in October 2025.
In January, he had fended off a joint bid by Warisan president Shafie Apdal and Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar to overthrow him as chief minister.
The move failed after six Sabah Umno assemblymen decided to support Hajiji instead of their own party chief Bung. Hajiji had then booted out Bung and those who went against him from the state Cabinet.
'WE WILL USE OUR AUTONOMY IF NECESSARY'
During the January ouster attempt, Anwar's own Pakatan Harapan coalition had opted to back Hajiji.
Perceived to be linked to Musa Aman, the scandal-tainted former Sabah chief minister, Hajiji is the leader of the Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah as well as the GRS coalition.
The GRS is now part of Anwar's unity government, while Umno and Warisan are also key allies of the federal government.
During Warisan’s general assembly earlier this month, Shafie had claimed his party would be working with Sabah Umno at the next state election.
Meanwhile, according to the source, negotiations had already been held with all parties including Hajiji's party - but only Warisan agreed to Umno’s conditions for the electoral pact.
The source also said Sabah Umno had the authority to choose its own partner as it had been given 'autonomy' by the party’s central leadership in 2018.
“(But) we will use (our autonomy) if necessary,” said the source.
Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!
Politics Now!
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