Does Musa Aman feel threatened by Anwar?

Malaysia Today

Anwar Ibrahim’s two-day visit to Sabah recently seems to have shaken its Chief Minister, Musa Aman, who is also head of Umno Sabah. The fact that many within Umno Sabah itself hope that Anwar will be the catalyst in ousting the ‘colonialist’ Umno from Sabah is nerve-wrecking for Musa Aman. He realises that if Anwar can assist in restoring Sabah’s ‘independence’, in particular the spirit of the ‘20 Point Agreement’, then Umno Sabah’s days may be numbered.

It is not a pie in the sky for the opposition to harbour aspirations of making Sabah one of its frontline states. Sabahans are just like Kelantanese in mentality and attitude; that is, fiercely independent and loath Federal intervention. But while the Kelantan government has changed hands only thrice (and between only Umno and PAS) ; in 1969, 1978 and 1990; Sabah’s government has changed hands in 1976, 1985, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2003 (and each time to a different political party, though some may still be in Barisan Nasional, but not all).

Therefore, changing governments is very much a Sabah ‘tradition’. Sabahans have done this many times before since ‘independence’ in 1963 -- and they can do this again without batting an eyelid if they really want to. And Musa Aman knows this.

If Anwar was merely attacking from the outside then this could be perceived as a pipedream. But when 20 of the 25 Umno Sabah divisions would like to see Musa Aman brought down then the possibility of the state falling to the opposition is real indeed. Was this not how Melaka was defeated in 1511 -- the insiders in the Melaka Sultan’s court opening the doors for the Portuguese to walk in?

Sabahans know that to be able to regain their ‘independence’, Musa Aman must be ousted. ‘Sabah for Sabahans’ is the battle-cry in Sabah, and watch the next year or two as many who propagate this ideology crossover to keADILan to make the possibility of defeating Umno in Sabah get closer to reality.

Sure, the sceptics would say that Sabah politics is all about money. So? How much do you need to topple Umno Sabah? RM100 million? RM200 million? Twenty Sabah tycoons and warlords could easily fork out RM5 million per person to raise this ‘meagre’ amount. And Sabah has many more than twenty multi-millionaires. And when the ‘poorest’ Sabah kingpin is worth RM200 million, RM5 million is small potatoes to regain Sabah’s ‘independence’.

This is what the Daily Express reported, which reveals how frightened Musa Aman is:Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, who is also Sabah Umno and Sabah BN Chairman, advised the people not to be hoodwinked by allegations made against the Government. Stating that the visit by former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who is also Keadilan advisor would not affect the people's confidence in the Government, he said the Government also has no intention of barring him from visiting Sabah. "Because we know the rakyat cannot be easily influenced (by Anwar) since they fully understand the concept of the BN struggle, which had long gained a foothold in Sabah," he said. Umno Youth national Deputy Chairman, Khairy Jamaluddin shared Musa's sentiment and he believed Anwar would not be able to create a big impact on Sabah's political scenario. He said this was proven when Anwar's bid to help PAS candidate in the recent Pengkalan Pasir in Kelantan by-elections failed.

The recent visit by Anwar will not jeopardise the party's stand and credibility in the State, said Sabah Umno Wanita Chief, Senator Datuk Armani Mahiruddin. She pointed out that Umno's strength was demonstrated by the results of the 2004 general election during which the opposition parties in Sabah were rejected. She said Umno, under the leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, had fortified its foundation since expanding its wings to Sabah more than a decade ago.