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OF late former Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan has been advising Malaysians in Sabah how they should vote in the coming GE15 this November 19.Based on reports in the Daily Express he says they should opt for a local party, i.e. one that is not headquartered in Kuala Lumpur. By that I presume he was referring not to vote BN, Pakatan and Bersatu coalition-wise and Umno, PKR and Bersatu in particular, respectively, or any of the parties aligned with these three coalitions.

Which is ironic, since he is the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) Supreme Advisor and his party is under Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) which has a working relationship with Umno, whose head office is in the peninsula. I would readily agree, if not for the fact that it was he who caused these peninsula-based parties to set foot on Sabah in the first place, beginning with Umno, through his political naivety as the CM from 1985 until 1994.

Sabahans can do with expert advice when making an informed decision. Except whether such advice should be taken seriously, especially when it comes from a past leader who Sabahans like myself had placed great hopes when the party he led took charge in 1985 with the rallying mantra of “Sabah for Sabahans” but regretted later as it turned out to be more of “Sabah not for other Sabahans” in opportunities, jobs and promotions. Doing exactly what Berjaya did to Usno supporters.

At least under Bersatu-led GRS, we don’t see CM Datuk Seri Hajiji victimising anybody. Those who were known Warisan loyalists continue in their posts and are happy that the CM is a gentleman. Policy-wise, Pairin’s miscalculated judgments caused Sabah to lose much irreversibly both politically and in terms of prized assets that should have remained in Sabah’s hands. Sabahans will never forget, nor will they forgive him for pulling PBS out of the Barisan Nasional and siding with Semangat 46 led by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah just two weeks before the 1990 general election.

He could have waited until after the election results before making such an important decision which the then PM Dr Mahathir described as a “stab in the back”. That’s why when Mahathir came back to power, he showed no mercy to Sabah. I was one of the Sabahans who packed the KK Community Centre one Monday night in 1990 after reading a full page advertisement in the Daily Express that he would be making an important announcement. When I heard him say that PBS was pulling out of the ruling federal coalition, my immediate reaction was ‘why are you guys so stupid when you could just wait for the election outcome first.’ Of course, there were no lack of goons who cheered his announcement. But many of us predicted that it was the end of PBS should BN return to power and were proven right. Look at what happened to Sabah since that decision. Umno came to Sabah and when the next election came, kicked PBS out. The Royal Commission of Inquiry on Illegal Immigrants also noted an unusual spike in foreigners from neighbouring countries getting Malaysian documents, who many suspect were part of a long term plan to ensure local parties like PBS would never hold power again.

Like the first Huguan Siou who called for a review of the Malaysia Agreement after Singapore’s exit, the second Huguan Siou following the “stab in the back” must have confirmed to Kuala Lumpur leaders to be cautious about KDMs holding power again, unless they are with a KL-headquartered party and fight for Sabah’s interests from within the coalition. Rather than as a stand alone Rambo.

Talking of betrayal, sadly it was one of our own kind who became the nation’s first political frog in the 1967 state election. Henceforth, KDM politics has always been one of Judases or betrayals. Pairin himself was sent to the political dustbin by his own brother in Tambunan in the 2018 election. Never has the nation’s political history seen a sibling take on another with the aim of finishing  each other politically, but it happened in KDM politics.

Back to Pairin’s colossal 1990 blunder, I recall some of these foreigners, especially those who fell prey to syndicates who took advantage of the situation by also issuing ICs with the help of crooked personnel in the National Registration Department and were caught with these documents said they got them under a “Project Mahathir” which also was inter alia referred to as “Projek IC”. The evidence can be found in many court reports published in your paper in the mid-1990s.

Hence, it was Pairin who caused Umno to come to Sabah. It was a high stakes gamble he took in pulling PBS out of the BN. But the KDM community, and by extension, Sabahans, are paying for that mistake of his until today. Perhaps forever. His brother is known to have been against the pullout decision.

Pairin’s nine-year administration also cost Sabah’s future generations to lose billions through the sale of prized Sabah assets like SFI, SGI, KPD subsidiaries and the cattle farm in Darwin, Australia. These are only some as the “Sabah for sale” list was long. Even the beach hotel was eventually part-sold to Robert Kuok’s Shangrila group and the reason the State Government still has a remaining stake is only due to Tan Sri Musa Aman stepping in I’m told when he headed Yayasan Sabah. To be fair to Pairin, it is believed that a BN-Umno leader was pushing for the sale to pocket the huge commission with a prominent ex-banker but using the working paper done under PBS previously as a pretext. The owners of all these assets today must be either laughing or thanking Pairin because the sale price were said to be way below market value and all these assets have brought fantastic returns to the new owners in due course.  Imagine where Sabah will be today if Sabah did not sell these assets. Of, course, he may say it was “collective cabinet decision”. But really? Having said that, Sabahans also suffered colossally from the decision/s of another CM, Tan Sri Harris Salleh. It was also after he took over as CM that the 5pc oil royalty was signed and Sabah (with Sarawak) was downgraded into one of 13 states.

Although Harris has been praised for being pro-business and developing Sabah, his greatest sin would forever be to give away Labuan at zero cost and without consulting Sabahans, except perhaps his “kitchen cabinet”.

But in Harris’ case, we don’t find him advising Sabahans on how to vote. It is in Sabahans’ greater and long-term interest to ensure that their rights, including MA63, can be pursued through Sabah-based representatives of peninsula-based parties or friendly state-based parties.

Because if the next Federal Government can be formed without needing Sabah as happened following the Sheraton move, no amount of pleading to honour MA63 rights would be entertained. In fact, some of the gains achieved by the GRS State Government, including in oil and gas revenue, which is now in the region of RM5 billion may also discontinue.

Remember that the Federal Government agreed not to challenge the 5pc sales tax on petroleum by the Sarawak Government, in exchange for its support for the Perikatan Government. Sabah got its share but only after the Hajiji-led GRS Government was formed. This is a fact that even Warisan cannot deny.

Vladimir Putin has been wonderful news for the Malaysian economy as energy prices have skyrocketed since his decision to invade Ukraine to take back some territories Russia believes rightfully belonged to it.

The IAEA had said that oil and gas prices are not bound to return to their former levels anymore. If Sabahans aspire for better prosperity from their oil and gas, their best hopes are in voting for local parties tied up with Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan or Perikatan Nasional.   Never mind if some of the leaders of these parties are seen to be corrupt. They may not stay at the top for long. For that matter, which Sabah leader can say there has been no corruption under his watch.

Where Sabah is concerned, corruption must be constantly tackled. Pairin, himself was convicted for corruption and nearly lost his CM post in the latter 1980s.

Corruption is a non-issue but Sabah’s rights and greater autonomy must be the priorities. Plus exercising the right, like Sarawak, in not blindly following policies if they are not in Sabah’s larger and future interests like MM2H and Bahasa Malaysia at the expense of English. 

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