PARTI Warisan Sabah has the advantage in the state polls arising from a divided Sabah Umno over Bung Moktar Radin’s appointment as the Barisan Nasional election director, said political analysts.

They told The Malaysian Insight that if the internal frictions were not soon resolved, morale among Umno members would drop ahead of the election campaign set to begin on September 12.
 
Borneo political analyst Dr Jeniri Amir said Warisan, which is allied with DAP, PKR and Upko, could turn Umno’s problems to its advantage.

“Warisan could take the opportunity to tell the people of Sabah not to give the mandate to leaders and parties who can’t solve their internal problems,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“I believe Warisan and the opposition leaders will exploit the weaknesses facing Umno at this time.”

He said the last general election results showed the voters did not want an Umno with a selfish leadership.

“The people want Umno to be a reliable party, one that is not selfish and without infighting.

“People want leaders to be willing to make sacrifices and to be tolerant each other.”

The former Universiti Malaysia Sarawak lecturer said it was inappropriate for Umno Supreme Council member Abdul Rahman Dahlan to protest party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s appointment of Bung Moktar.

This, he said, showed the enemy there was dissent among the Umno ranks.

Early this week, Tuaran Umno division chief Rahman said BN was committing political suicide by letting Bung Moktar lead the party election campaign, including determining the distribution of seats and chief ministerial candidate.

He said Sabah Umno leaders did not want Bung Moktar to lead the BN campaign because the Kinabatabangan MP was dogged by a corruption scandal as well as personal issues.

Bung Moktar, 60, faces two corruption charges linked to almost RM2.5 million, which was allegedly misappropriated during his tenure as Felcra chairman. The case is being heard in Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Sabah political lecturer Ahezzal Shah Abdul Karim said the internal strife in Umno would make it difficult for the party to negotiate seats.

“This issue will create confusion among the other parties that are negotiating with BN, and of course it will, to some extent, affect the negotiation process.

“Right now it all depends on how quickly the Umno leadership can resolve the issue,” he said.

He said it was still too early to tell the severity of Umno’s problems.

UiTM Sabah political economics lecturer Firdausi Suffian said this did not mean it would be a cakewalk for Warisan.

“In any party, there will be issues, but Umno needs to be rational. If BN wants to win it needs to be united.

“But Warisan should not take it easy; instead it should choose the right candidates. That is the most important thing,” he said.

Jeniri said the key figures in Sabah Umno had no choice but to make up and move forward.

“Bung Moktar, Rahman Dahlan, and (former chief minister) Musa Aman need to sit down and talk so that they can then decide on the best formula so that they can win.

“Clearly, allowing this conflict to continue will destroy the image of Umno in the eyes of the people who will be doing the choosing (at the polls).

“This is where compromise is very important.”

Sabah Umno is expected to call for a meeting soon to sort out the leaders’ differences.

September 26 is polling day in Sabah. Nomination is on September 12 and early voting, September 22.

State elections were called after Yang di-Pertua Negeri Juhar Mahiruddin dissolved the state assembly on the advice of Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal on July 30.

This followed an attempt by Musa Aman to seize power on the basis that he had the majority in the state assembly.

Seventy-three state seats will be contested in the Sabah elections, including 13 new seats created through demarcation last year. – August 21, 2020.