The political scandal in Sabah - A botched shot?

November 27, 2024


A botched shot?

The political scandal in Sabah in which a businessman secretly filmed assemblymen discussing projects and monies is a game not to expose corruption but to grab power.




Philip Golingai
The Star




Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor shaking hands with Dr Jeffrey while next to them is acting PBS president Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam. PHOTO: THE STAR


November 25, 2024

KUALA LUMPUR – WHAT shall we call the political scandal in Sabah in which a businessman secretly filmed YBs (assemblymen) discussing projects and monies?

ome call it the whistleblower exposé. But for me, it is not the right phrase as it gives the wrong impression that the businessman is a whistleblower.

He is not.

The businessman has told a news portal, to which he has exclusively given his edited videos, that he had bribed the YBs to get them to support his application for a mining exploration license.

Under the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) 2010, protection could be revoked if the whistleblower participated in the improper conduct that he disclosed. Also, a whistleblower who shares the disclosed information with outside parties, such as the media, risks revocation for violating Section 8(1), which prohibits this action.

By exclusively sharing the secretly filmed videos, which the businessman told the portal that he had edited, he was engaged in a trial by media and social media.

In the words of his target, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, the businessman wanted to tarnish the chief minister’s and state government’s image. The businessman also wanted to bring down the Hajiji and the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah government.

It is a political game not to expose corruption but to grab power. I’ll call it “Langkah Billiards”.

In billiards, the break shot sets the tone for the entire game. Some amateurs hit the cue ball too hard, hoping that a ball will be potted in the pocket. Hitting it too hard has unintended consequences. The player has no control over which ball is potted – the cue ball, black ball, solid blue, or striped red.

The same is true of the game played by the business and his syndicate, comprising retired top enforcement officers (some with backgrounds in political intelligence gathering) and an inside man who manages mineral resources in Sabah. The syndicate, headed by a Tan Sri, has political espionage know-how (how to entrap your “political friends”), a strategy (using a well-meaning news portal to release videos to push the corruption narrative) and connection (one of the YBs met the businessman at the recommendation of the Tan Sri).

Langkah Billiards reminds me of the Law of Unintended Consequences, which states that people’s actions always have unanticipated or unintended effects.

One example is that vegetarianism may increase animal deaths rather than decrease them. Another example is increasing the minimum wage could lead to unintended consequences, such as businesses reducing their workforce or raising prices to offset higher labour costs.

The Law of Unintended Consequences played out in January 2022 in Sabah.

It was called Langkah Kinabalu, and Umno, led by its Sabah chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, plotted to bring down the GRS government that the party was part of. The game plan was that Umno and the opposition coalition and parties like Pakatan Harapan (PKR, DAP, and Upko), Parti Warisan, and Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat would form the Sabah government.

The unintended consequence of this botched plot was that Hajiji’s grip as Sabah Chief Minister was strengthened when rebel Umno YBs supported him instead of Bung Moktar, and Pakatan joined his coalition government. The other consequence was that Bung Moktar lost his Deputy Chief Minister post and his party was in opposition in Sabah.

In other words, hitting the cue ball too hard in Langkah Kinabalu resulted in pocketing the cue ball, which is a foul.

For Langkah Billiards (i.e. secretly filmed videos), the plot was to oust Hajiji as Chief Minister and replace with V, who would reverse the decisions to cancel or not to renew the syndicate’s more than a dozen prospecting licences. (Note: It is a licence to prospect for minerals, not an ML, a mining licence).

Some YBs who were leaders in their parties and components of GRS were blackmailed into leaving the government. Two leaders refused as they did not want to be with parties from the peninsula. Plus, one of them is a tested politician who has gone to jail for his Sabah rights conviction.

The top leadership of Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (PGRS), led by Hajiji, is grateful that the blackmailed leaders refused to quit the government coalition. The unintended consequence of Langkah Billiards is that leaders of the GRS coalition have closed ranks.

The coalition, which includes eight Sabah-based parties – PGRS, PBS (Parti Bersatu Sabah), Star Sabah, SAPP, LDP, Usno, Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah (PHRS), and Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) – was wobbly. Sabah Star, headed by Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan and parties like PBS, SAPP, and Usno wanted GRS to contest all 73 state seats in the coming election. They did not wish to share seats with Umno and Pakatan, which PGRS was mooting.

There is now a trust deficit between the top leadership of PGRS and Umno, as the national party is seen as supporting Langkah Billiards. PGRS wouldn’t want to work with Umno (of Barisan Nasional) even if Bung Moktar was replaced as state chief as the party’s top leadership at the national level had also endorsed Langkah Billiards.

The other unintended consequence is that the electoral pact for the Sabah polls might have changed. Earlier, it was Barisan Nasional (Umno), Pakatan and GRS (most probably minus Sabah Star, SAPP and Usno) vs Parti Warisan vs Parti KDM vs Sabah bloc (Sabah Star, SAPP and Usno) vs lesser political parties. Now it looks like it will be an intact GRS vs Barisan Nasional vs Parti Warisan vs Parti KDM and lesser political parties.

But politics is as unpredictable as when a cue ball is being hit too hard.

The billiards game is still ongoing. The big question is who will the power that be in national politics side with.

Would the attack dog, fed by a Sabah politician I shall call W, bite the hand that feeds it now that its owner is back in town? Watch what the attack dog does next to understand the political cost of Langkah Billiards.