KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 — Sabah and Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) want
elections to be held in the second half of the year, citing local
festivals occurring over the next month.
The Star reported today several component party leaders as saying
that the months of May and June would be unsuitable as the states would
be celebrating the Keamatan and Gawai Dayak harvest festivals in Sabah
and Sarawak respectively.
Sabah BN has also been pushing for a royal commission of inquiry
(RCI) into the illegal immigrant problem there for months now, with
Cabinet ministers saying such an inquiry “will have little value” if
announced after elections and that the issue puts their “political lives
on the chopping block”.
“We heard that Parliament could be dissolved any time now. But we
feel it is better for it to be done after Kaamatan so as not to disrupt
the celebrations,” Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) information chief Datuk
Johnny Mositun was quoted as saying by the English-language daily.
PBS is BN’s largest Sabah-based party, and has been a leading voice,
along with United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko)
president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, in calling for the RCI to be held
before polls.
Upko secretary general Datuk Wilfred Tangau was quoted by the daily
as saying “Kaamatan is a time of thanksgiving and forgiveness. So I feel
it is inappropriate to dissolve Parliament then.”
“Even leaders would not want to campaign during this time as it is
the time to be with their families,” The Star also cited Datuk Seri
Michael Manyin, vice president of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB),
which is the mainstay of Sarawak BN, as commenting.
The newspaper also reported Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Tan
Sri James Masing as saying BN would not fare well should polls be held
next month.
Kaamatan culminates in a grand celebration at the end of May and
Gawai Dayak falls on June 1 but usually people remain in a festive mood
for weeks.
Datuk Seri Najib Razak has engaged in much fighting talk of late,
calling on his senior ruling party Umno to ensure Malaysia is not
“destroyed” by “uncivilised enemies” on the back of violence seen from
both police and protestors at the April 28 Bersih rally.
The prime minister intimated that he is ready to call polls anytime
now, joking at Umno’s 66th anniversary on Friday about asking the Agong
to dissolve Parliament the next day, the next month or any other month.
Bloomberg had reported last month several unnamed government
officials as saying that June 3 is the proposed date for Najib to lead
BN into polls for the first time.
But the Umno president will be overseas on various dates throughout this month and BN sources told The Malaysian Insider July is a likelier date before the Ramadan fasting month begins on July 19.
Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim also told The Malaysian Insider
he would not hold elections until the second half of the year, which
would deny Najib the chance to win back the country’s richest state and
help cement his hold on power.
Observers say the Pekan MP needs to improve on Election 2008, during
which BN lost a record 82 federal seats and five state governments and
only a return to its customary two-thirds majority of Parliament would
guarantee his survival.
Najib will also need a strong showing in Sarawak and Sabah, where the
likes of PBS and Upko insist an RCI into the influx of illegal
immigrants is crucial.
“We have put our party on the line for that; we want it. But the
opportune time, of course, is before elections. Let’s face it, it will
not have much value if announced after elections,” PBS deputy president
Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili told The Malaysian Insider.
Upko chief Dompok also said the RCI must be announced before
Parliament is dissolved to be seen as credible and that he has “put my
political life on the chopping block.”
“If this isn’t resolved, my position in the Cabinet will be untenable. Besides, the act of not
proceeding with the RCI will say a lot about the government’s attitude to the Kadazandusun Murut communities,” he said.
According to replies provided in Parliament last year, Sabah’s
population was 651,304 in 1970 and grew to 929,299 a decade later. But
in the two decades following 1980, the state’s population rose by a
staggering 1.5 million people, reaching 2,468,246 by 2000.
Media reports said that, as of 2010, this number has grown further to
3.12 million, with foreigners making up a sizeable 27 per cent or
889,799 of the population.
Opposition leaders have long railed against the BN government for
this unusual population explosion, alleging that illegal immigrants have
been allowed into the east Malaysian state, and given MyKads and voting
rights to help the ruling coalition retain control.
In early February, Dompok revealed that the Cabinet had agreed to form the RCI.
Najib was widely expected to announce the panel into what Sabah BN
leaders say is the top election issue there when he visited the state
later that same month but the prime minister concluded his visit without
addressing the issue.
This sparked rumours and Internet news reports of the possibility
that Najib had backpedalled on the Cabinet’s decision, with some even
claiming a “secret meeting” of Umno warlords had warned the BN chief it
would lose a sizeable chunk of votes if the RCI were to lead to a
crackdown on the state’s massive population of illegal immigrants.
A Sabah BN insider later told The Malaysian Insider that
Cabinet meeting minutes showed that it had agreed to the RCI on February
8 and tasked Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri
Mohamed Nazri Aziz to co-ordinate the scope of the RCI’s investigation.
He said Najib’s unexpected silence on the issue had not only angered
but also embarrassed Sabah BN leaders, particularly those in Upko and
PBS, who have been trumpeting their success in pushing for the RCI.
The PM has been coy on the status of the RCI, only saying at a press
conference on February 23 that it was still under consideration.
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