Former Umno leaders to face off for Muslim-bumiputra votes
KOTA KINABALU: Up until 2018, Umno was a unifying political power house for Muslim-bumiputras across Sabah.
Its political clout has since eroded with warlords from ethnic Muslim communities, once under the Umno umbrella, re-positioning themselves by forming their own power blocks and allying with different parties.
This state election will see a battle between former Umno leaders who have rebranded themselves under local multiracial, as well as national parties.
These splinter leaders have built their own political bases since the last Barisan Nasional government under Tun Musa Aman (now Yang di-Pertua Negeri) crumbled after the general election in 2018.
The battle is for the lion’s share of the 38 Muslim-bumiputra seats comprising mostly ethnic and sub-ethnic Bajau, Brunei Malay, Kedayan, Bisaya, Sungai, Dusun and Bugis.
The key challenge for the seats will be mounted by Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, an ethnic Bajau chieftain from west coast Tuaran whose hold is being challenged by Parti Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, a Bajau warlord from Sabah’s east coast Semporna.
Sabah Umno chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, an ethnic Sungai strongman from Kinabatangan, has reorganised the party with younger and fresh blood to put Umno back in a position of strength in Sabah’s fractured political landscape.
Sabah Bersatu, now under Beluran MP Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee, will carry Perikatan Nasional’s bid to capture the seats it lost when Hajiji left to align with the unity government after the December 2022 general election.
Hajiji, Mohd Shafie and Kiandee were once with Umno.
In the September 2020 snap polls, despite their differences, Hajiji under the Perikatan Nasional-Bersatu banner had teamed up with Bung Moktar’s Barisan-Umno to topple Shafie’s Warisan-Pakatan Harapan government.
“It is going to be an intense battle. We will see GRS versus Barisan versus Perikatan versus Warisan. Expect a minimum of four corner fights in the Muslim-bumiputra seats,” said political analyst Assoc Prof Lee Kok Tiung of Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
Lee said voting patterns within these seats are hard to predict as there is a changing trend among the ethnic communities.
“Some of the seats are based on who is the warlord there. Some will vote based on political ideology. The difficult part to predict is the young voters. There is no indicator of where they are leaning to,” Prof Lee said.
Political observer Prof Dr Romzi Ationg said voting trends among the Muslim-bumiputras have been changing.
“There is a growing interest among them to be more attentive to issues like state autonomy and representation.
“It is highly likely that the coming election will see fragmentation within the Muslim votes as some still have the traditional attitude and strong support for their long-preferred politicians and political party,” he said.
He said it is likely that most of the parties contesting are trying to gain a strong foothold in Muslim-bumiputra seats amid the political vacuum.
