Sabah: the battleground for the Umno Deputy Presidency (part 2)

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Sabah Umno has 25 divisions. Currently, 18 are opposed to Chief Minister Musa Aman while only seven support him.Sabah politics, just like in Sarawak, is unique in that ‘warlords’ call the shots and the federal government or the Umno headquarters have very little hold over the state -- worse still in Sarawak that does not even have any Umno presence there. That was the whole reason why Umno entered Sabah -- to control the state -- while Sarawak has ‘wisely’ resisted Umno’s entry into the state.Musa is only useful to the federal leaders as long as he can control his 25 state divisions. If he cannot, then he is of no use to them and he might as well be removed. Musa’s future would therefore depend on how he is perceived by the federal leaders, in particular Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his team -- ‘team’ here meaning, of course, Khairy Jamaluddin, his son-in-law.Both Abdullah as well as his deputy, Najib Tun Razak, are fighting tooth and nail to extend their tentacles into Sabah, a state that in the past has been the kingmaker for those who aspire to move up Umno’s ladder -- or retain their positions as the case may be.It is crucial therefore that Musa is able to give the impression he has a strong hold over the 25 divisions to convince the federal leaders he is able to serve them as their ‘proxy’ in Sabah.Amongst those said to be opposed to Musa are:
Datuk Haji Hajiji Mohd Noor, Bendahari Umno Sabah, Ketua Penaja Umno Bahagian Tuaran and Menteri Kerajaan Tempatan & Perumahan (a contender for the Chief Minister’s post)Datuk Haji Mohd Shafie Haji Apdal, Ketua Penaja Umno Bahagian Semporna (another contender for the Chief Minister’s post and staunch Najib loyalist)Datuk Haji Abdul Rahim Ismail, Ketua Penerangan and Menteri Pembangunan Pertanian Dan Industri Pemakanan (originally a ‘Musa man’ but recently turned foe)Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Osu Haji Sukam, Ketua Penaja Umno Bahagian Papar (rumoured that Musa recently bought him over with a sizeable amount of hard cash)Datuk Seri Panglima Kol. Dr Haji Lakim Haji Ukin, Ketua Penaja Umno Bahagian Beaufort (another contender for the Chief Minister’s post whom, it is rumoured, Musa has bought over with a sewerage project and timber concessions)Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Haji Mulia, Ketua Penaja Umno Bahagian Kota MaruduDatuk Abdul Ghapur Haji Salleh, Ketua Penaja Umno Bahagian KalabakanDatuk Haji Masidi Manjun, Ketua Umno Bahagian Ranau, Penolong Setiausaha and Menteri Pembangunan Belia, Kebudayaan Dan Kemajuan Sukan (staunch Najib loyalist)Datuk Haji Sairin Karno, Ketua Penaja Umno Bahagian Keningau (it is rumoured Musa has bought him over with a timber concession)Datuk Bung Moktar Radin, Pejabat Umno Bahagian Kinabatangan (it is rumoured Musa has bought him over with a timber concession)Datuk Masrani Parman, Ketua Umno Bahagian KudatDatuk Uzair Yahya, Ketua Penaja Umno Bahagian SepanggarTuan Faisal Daeigo, Ketua Umno Bahagian Kota Kinabalu (brother-in-law of Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Haji Mulia)Datuk Rizalman Abdullah, Ketua Penaja Umno Bahagian Tenom (it is rumoured Musa has bought him over with a timber concession)Abdul Ghani Mohd Yassin, Ketua Penaja Umno Bahagian Pensiangan (straunch supporter of Datuk Haji Abdul Rahim Ismail)Datuk Surady Kayong, Ketua Penaja Umno Bahagian BeluranDatuk Seri Panglima Haji Ampong Haji Puyon, Ketua Penaja Umno Bahagian SandakanSamsu Baharum Haji Abd Rahman, Pemangku Ketua UMNO Bahagian SilamAnd those in support of him are:
Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Yahya Hussin, Setiausaha Perhubungan, Ketua Penaja Umno Bahagian Putatan and Timbalan Ketua Menteri/Menteri Pembangunan MasyarakatJohn Ambrose, Ketua Penaja Umno Bahagian Penampang (staunch Najib loyalist but recently bought over by Musa with a timber concession)Datuk Hj. Tawfiq Datuk Abu Bakar Titingan, Ketua Penaja UMNO Bahagian Tawau/Pembantu Menteri Pembangunan Luar Bandar & Keusahawanan (controls all the projects in Tawau and Musa is using him to undermine Datuk Abdul Ghapur Haji Salleh)Datuk Haji Sapawi Haji Ahmad, Ketua Penaja Umno Bahagian Sipitang and Pembantu Menteri KewanganDatuk Haji Juhar Mahiruddin, Ketua Umno Bahagian Batu Sapi (close ally of Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Haji Mulia)Datuk Haji Musbah Hj Jamli, Ketua Umno Bahagian Kota Belud (close ally of Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Osu Haji Sukam)Datuk Hj Hanifah Aman, Ketua Umno Bahagian Kimanis (Musa’s brother)It is expected that, in the next couple of months, there will be a major cabinet reshuffle that would involve federal ministers and state chief ministers. The Kedah chief minister is presently quite sick but he is being allowed to stay on for the meantime. They want him out, of course, but they first have to sort out the problem of who is going to be his successor.Five names have been proposed and both Najib and Khairy are working very hard behind the scenes to get their man in. Currently, the ‘hot favourite’ is Afiffuddin Omar, a known Anwar man, who is being strongly backed by Khairy. If Khairy can manoeuvre his man in, then Mukriz Mahathir’s influence in Kedah can be checked.Mukriz, youngest son of one-time Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, got the highest vote in the recent Umno Youth general assembly and is one man who could throw a spanner in Khairy’s plans. If Mukriz takes Khairy on, then he may never make Umno Youth Leader, let alone Prime Minister. And Khairy knows if Mukriz, who has wider support in the Umno Youth Movement, decides to take him on then he (Khairy) would find it tough going.So Mukriz needs to be neutralised and this has to be done through the appointment of the next Kedah Chief Minister.This is what Reuters said on 1 April 2005:
Mahathir’s son eyes bigger political roleMalaysia’s longest-serving leader, ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad, left many remarkable and controversial legacies from his 22 years in power.But one of the most important could be his youngest son, Mukhriz Mahathir, an ambitious politician emerging as a champion for those who want to keep Malaysia on the course his father set.“For any politicians, they must have ambitions and aspirations,” Mukhriz, 40, told Reuters in an interview. “It’s the same for me. I look forward to a bigger responsibility.”But the soft spoken Mukhriz, who runs a fibre optics communications company, could have a fight on his hands if he wants to ride to power and protect the memory of “Dr M.”, the man who will be remembered for transforming Malaysia.Mukhriz’s most potent rival for future leadership is thought to be Khairy Jamaluddin, powerful young son-in-law of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who has vowed to fight corruption and has turned off Mahathir’s tap of huge state projects.There is talk that Mukhriz and Khairy are proxies for a quiet struggle between past and present leaders.“I’m always surprised when people just ask me about my own ambition and how it relates to Khairy’s,” Mukhriz said this week.Some others are not at all surprised, especially after some ruling party members cheered Mukhriz and booed Khairy during the party’s general assembly last year.“Mukhriz is there to preserve the Mahathir legacies,” said a political analyst who declined to be named. “Some people think Abdullah shouldn’t alter what Mahathir had done in the past 22 years.”Since coming to power in October 2003, Abdullah has scrapped several major projects, including a $3.8 billion railway deal approved by his predecessor.He has also tried to reform the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) with a campaign against corruption and vote buying in the party.A wealthy businessman and the father of three, Mukhriz came to politics comparatively late, because Mahathir discouraged his children from taking an active part in politics.“We have been seen as a privileged lot, so it’s this need to help the needy,” he said when asked why he had entered politics.The slightly balding Mukhriz, who can still muster a smattering of Japanese from his days in that country as a student, was speaking in Putrajaya, the vast and still-unfinished administrative capital that was his father’s brainchild.In one sense, Mukhriz and Khairy are both merely observing a Malaysian tradition where sons and sons-in-law of prominent politicians often follow in their elders’ footsteps.The pair have already tussled once in the race for posts in the youth wing of UMNO, the dominant party in the coalition that has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957.Mukhriz, nominated for the No. 2 job in the youth wing last September, withdrew when he realised sentiment was going Khairy’s way. Though Khairy got that job, Mukhriz was elected to UMNO Youth’s executive panel with more votes than any other contender.Being the son of Mahathir has helped, Mukhriz said, but the test he now faces is to deliver. “I have a name that helps open doors, but once you are through, you need to perform,” he said.Mukhriz offered praise for Abdullah, saying the premier’s reform agenda would take time to bear fruit, but he could not rule out running against his son-in-law one day.“I suppose that’s a possibility,” he said.Khairy, who has the undiluted confidence of his father-in-law, is very much in control of the candidates’ list in the anticipated cabinet reshuffle both at state and federal level. Khairy, who is advising the Prime Minister on who should be in and who should be out, has a masterstroke of a plan. It is not enough they embark on just a cabinet reshuffle. They need to also remove the incumbents in a most unceremonious manner to demonstrate to the world how serious Abdullah is in combating corruption.Some time back there was much brouhaha when a senior minister in Abdullah’s government announced there are 18 high profile corruption cases which the Anti-Corruption Agency would soon be bringing to book. After that sudden outburst, the country reverted to silence.According to Khairy, the government has not abandoned the cases. Far from it, the cases are still very much on the government’s radar screen. They just need to wait for the opportune time before pursuing them.On this list, according to what Khairy told his close associates, are ex-Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, one-time Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, International Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor, Perlis Chief Minister Shahidan Kassim, Selangor Chief Minister Khir Toyo, and a few more -- basically all those viewed as a threat to either Khairy or his father-in-law. Senior Umno officials feel the list is slightly too high-powered and smacks of another Anwar Ibrahim corruption/sodomy situation. They are of the opinion that, while Khairy may be all gung-ho in his spring cleaning, Abdullah would never dare go for it. Dr Mahathir and Daim are just too powerful and untouchable, and if Khairy presses his father-in-law to bring both these warlords to book it may spell the end for Abdullah.The same goes for Najib and Rosmah as well. As much as Khairy may be keen to remove Najib as number two together with whom he perceives as Najib’s ‘mastermind’, Rosmah, it would be too obvious that it is politics and not corruption that is the issue.So Najib and Rosmah may be just as untouchable as Dr Mahathir and Daim. Rafidah is taking no chances though. It is rumoured she has already resigned and her resignation letter is sitting in Abdullah’s drawer waiting for the opportune time to date it and announce it to the world.Khairy can be very brutal by nature, just like Dr Mahathir. To be a successful politician, especially one that aspires to be the next Prime Minister, one needs to be brutal. That would, therefore, make Khairy a good politician. But there is such a thing as overkill and this is what Dr Mahathir did to Anwar which eventually worked against him resulting in him becoming the most hated Prime Minister in Malaysian history. And Khairy may be repeating Dr Mahathir’s mistake.We will need to watch closely these next couple of months. If Perlis, Kedah and Selangor (whose Chief Minister is another obstacle to Khairy’s career progression) see new Chief Ministers, plus there are major changes and new faces in the federal cabinet, plus Musa is left untouched in Sabah, then Khairy would be set to take on Najib.Further to that, if the changes in the federal cabinet and states follow in the wake of corruption charges being pressed against senior Umno officials and warlords, then Khairy would be in a position of unbridled power and all those who may be harbouring thoughts of blocking his rise to the top, Najib included, had better abandon the idea and step aside.As we all know, a Tsumani starts with an earthquake. Will there be a major tremor in Sabah that will trigger a political Tsunami, resulting in a significant power shift in Umno? In the past, Sabah has been a factor in both Anwar’s and Abdullah’s political fortunes. Both Najib and Khairy hope, once again, Sabah would be able to play this role of kingmaker. But they must ensure, first of all, that ‘their man’ gets to sit on the Sabah throne.