Man of the Hour

DATUK Seri Hajiji Noor looked exhausted rather than jubilant as he emerged from the Istana in the early hours of Sunday morning after being sworn in for a second term as the Sabah Chief Minister.

It had been one of the longest days in his life; Saturday had stretched into Sunday, none of those around him had had any rest and he was said to be feeling unwell.

The official number of seats Hajiji has in the bag remains a mystery but it is believed that his coalition Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) had managed to bring several other parties and independents on board for a grand total of 46 seats as of now.

But the numbers were still terribly fluid as Hajiji was on the way to take his oath before Sabah Governor Tun Musa Aman.

Hajiji was rattled by information coming in that Parti Warisan - which won 25 seats - was on a fishing expedition to woo the five independents that won.

That was one of the reasons why Hajiji felt compelled to reach out to “the enemy” Barisan Nasional which won six seats - five by Umno and one by PBRS president Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup.

Moreover, Star Sabah president Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan who had expressed support for Hajiji to form the government when the sun went down on Saturday, withdrew his support when the sun came up on Sunday.

Friends fighting each other and enemies returning to the same table have become the norm in politics.

But newly-minted Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said Hajiji’s priority is political stability.

“Hajiji wants to avoid more political intrigues so that he can focus on real work,” said Masidi.

As of now, Hajiji’s government comprises GRS (29 assemblymen), Upko (3), Parti KDM (1), PKR (1), Barisan (6) and independents (5).

Although Star Sabah chose to stay with the opposition, it did not object to its assemblyman Datuk Mohd Ishak Ayub being appointed an assistant minister.

That was how Hajiji, whom many thought would be riding into the sunset, cobbled together 46 seats to lead Sabah for another term.

It is no secret that federal leaders twisted his arm to appoint the sole PKR winner Datuk Jamawi Jaafar and Umno’s Jafry Ariffin as full ministers.

It left a bitter taste in the mouth for many in GRS because Jafry, together with Sabah Umno chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, had tried to topple Hajiji in the failed Langkah Kinabalu in 2023.

Social media was flooded with comments asking Hajiji what happened to his “rumah kita, kita jaga,” a battle cry for Sabah parties to look after its own household.

“Local parties dominate in the state government. Our CM will be able to make decisions that benefit Sabahans while the presence of PKR and Umno gives us a direct line to Putrajaya,” said Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, who won Kiulu for a fourth term and is now an assistant minister in the Chief Minister’s Office.

Umno was actually quite reluctant to be part of the state administration but it is understood that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wanted some semblance of a unity government in Sabah.

Umno had also demanded three assistant minister posts, but that was scrapped after protests from the GRS rank-and-file who could not accept giving so much to a party that had labelled GRS a “failed government”.

There was also resentment about PKR’s Jamawi being made a full minister. It was a classic instance of a party that lost badly and yet collected the trophy.

There were videos on Tik Tok mocking him as a frog who hopped from Umno to Warisan, then to GRS and is now in PKR.

“The end has come for Pakatan Harapan in Sabah and the end is coming for Umno,” said one Umno politician.

For that matter, the end is also near for Bung Moktar who scraped through in Lamag with a majority of only 153 votes.

There is too much bad blood between Bung Moktar and Hajiji, and he is also persona non grata in the eyes of the Sabah Governor whom he had backstabbed back in 2020.

Umno leaders had flown en masse out of Kota Kinabalu late Sunday morning and a great deal of the negotiations was done over the phone.

The man of the hour amid the uncertainty was no other than Umno’s deputy Sabah chairman Datuk Seri Rahman Dahlan who played an important but understated role in negotiations following the election.

He enjoys the trust of the primary power players. Rahman and Hajiji are first cousins - their fathers are brothers - and he calls Hajiji “abang”.

Rahman was a former political secretary to Musa when he was Chief Minister before he moved on to become a federal minister. He and Musa remain close to this day and he is among those who has a direct line to the Governor.

Surely the Umno leadership knows that the party cannot function well with a leader who is not on talking terms with key figures at the top?

The doors to many people in Sabah are locked to Bung but they swing open for Rahman.

The problem with Rahman is that he has been unable to win a state seat and although named as the Umno candidate in Tempasuk where his parents lived, he eventually declined the nomination.

The state assembly will convene in about a week’s time for all the assemblymen to take their oath.

Only then will we know the official count of who is on which side.

But Sabah being Sabah, nothing is impossible and it is good to be prepared for surprises.