“NO way. Absolutely not.”

“Not a chance… unless they play dirty.”

These are answers you will likely get if you ask the folk in Semporna to rate Barisan Nasional’s chances of retaining control of the parliamentary seat now that their favourite son, Shafie Apdal, has joined the opposition. 

Shafie, a Bajau like the majority of people in this Sabah east coast town, was a former Umno vice-president until he was sacked as rural and regional development minister in 2015.

He was also suspended from Umno on July 28, 2015 for questioning Prime Minister Najib Razak on the 1Malaysia Development Board (1MDB) financial scandal.

Shafie, who celebrated his 60^th birthday last Friday, then left Umno to form Parti Warisan Sabah.

But the defection from the ruling Malay party has done little to dampen Shafie’s strong standing in the community.

Now the centre of a graft probe into the Rural and Regional Development Ministry he used to head, Shafie, released yesterday after eight days in remand, is due back in his hometown to rally support

“Can Umno wrest Semporna back? Absolutely not,” said former civil servant Ghulam Miralam.

“People here are solidly behind Shafie.”

Shafie first contested the Semporna seat in 1995, winning 78% of votes against Parti Bersatu Sabah’s (PBS) Sabardin Ombrah. He has since won all other elections with resounding majorities.

Despite being thrown out of his political comfort zone with his defection from Umno and facing a graft probe, Shafie is expected to continue his winning ways in Semporna.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) arrested Shafie on October 19 to facilitate investigations into the alleged embezzlement of RM1.5 billion in federal funds eamarked for rural projects in Sabah.

The Warisan president was granted bail yesterday and did not attend the tabling of Budget 2018 by Prime Minister Najib Razak in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday afternoon.

But this has little effect on the people of Semporna, like charter van driver Asby Ismail.

“Shafie has a reputation for helping people,” Asby said.

“You name it… he has helped young people in this town get enrolled into tertiary education both locally and overseas.

“When someone dies, you know Shafie will provide financial assistance,” said the 48-year-old.

“We have roads, we have electricity though not all of us have piped water.

“He helped the people, who are mostly fishermen, with jetties, the building of boats and buying of fishing equipment.”

While Shafie holds the Semporna parliamentary seat, two of the three state seats that make up the parliamentary seat are still held by BN – Senallang is held by his cousin Nasir Sakaran, and Bugaya is held by Ramlee Marahaban who is Sabah Umno information deputy chief.

The assemblyman for Sulabayan, Jaujan Sambakong, has joined Shafie.

Warisan deputy information chief Hisham Fattah said the next elections will “without a doubt” bring victory for Shafie, claiming that as many as 300 Umno branches in Semporna dissolved after members left to join Warisan.

While most in Semporna remain firmly behind Shafie out of respect for his long-standing relationship with the townsfolk, others are motivated by their growing frustration with the rising cost of goods, which they said has made life harder in this town that serves as a gateway to the diving havens of Sipadan, Mabul and Mataking islands.

“There’s no way I can support this government because they are not helping us,” said van driver Abdul Libad Muslad.

“This Najib makes life difficult for us.

“His GST (the goods and services tax) is killing me. Now everything is expensive.”

Libad said he has yet to complete building his double-storey house, which is decked out with Warisan flags, as the cost of everything, including nails, has spiked.

“The cost of food is also so exorbitant and the price of fuel is like a roller coaster week in, week out.

“I wish the election is tomorrow as I cannot wait to vote this stupid government out,” he said. – October 28, 2017.