Dennis Ignatius
~ Provoking discussion, dissent & debate on politics, diplomacy, human rights & civil society.
The Prime Minister’s “New Sabah” Agenda
21FridayNov 2025
Posted in corruption, good governance, Politics
[1] Speaking at a dinner in Kota Kinabalu recently, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he does not want Sabah to remain plagued by corruption and abuse of power after the state election on Nov 29. He added that Pakatan Harapan continues to play an important role in ensuring that the state governance is maintained at the highest standards.[1]
[2] Everyone knows that Sabah is corrupt to the core; it has no governance standards to speak of. Almost every senior Sabah politician has been tainted by allegations of corruption. While it is true that Sabah remains poor because it has been denied its fair share of revenue under MA63, it is equally true that corruption and the abuse of power have also contributed to the impoverishment of the state.
[3] But I am not so sanguine that anything will really change. And neither do I see any evidence that the prime minister himself is really serious about tackling corruption or putting an end to the endemic abuse of power whether in Sabah or elsewhere in our nation. As usual he makes great speeches about fighting corruption, but his actions tell another story.
[4] His MACC, for one, continues to evade its responsibility to investigate in a through, transparent and timely manner major corruption cases. They are quick to act when the prime minister’s political opponents are involved but full of excuses when his political allies and cronies are implicated. Most Malaysians lost confidence in the MACC a long time ago.
[5] Appallingly, even those charged with corruption – with court proceedings well underway and dozens of witnesses called – have suddenly been freed after the charges against them were dropped. It’s DNAA’s for his allies; MACC for his foes. Worse still, some of those who were given a free pass from serious corruption charges were shamelessly appointed to high office. In every case, political considerations – keeping the prime minister in power – has taken precedence over justice and good governance.
[6] Even in Sabah, the prime minister continues to be ambivalent about a major corruption scandal involving several senior politicians from his coalition. Despite hundreds of pages of evidence submitted to the MACC including money trails, bank records, documents, videos and written correspondences, it has not been enough. It’s never enough when allies of the government are involved. It’s just more of the same smoke and mirrors that’s become the hallmark of this government when it comes to fighting corruption.
[7] Can someone with such a dismal record in fighting corruption inspire confidence that he is sincere in wanting to clean up the state? Can someone who has done so little to stop the abuse of power at the highest levels of government expect us to trust that he’ll somehow do things differently after the elections? Can someone who has put his political ambitions above all else have the credibility to talk about standards of good governance?
[8] It’s hard not to conclude that the so-called new Sabah agenda is just talk, political gimmickry, the kind of empty, meaningless, mendacious statements that politicians make especially at election time. No doubt the people of Sabah have heard it all before. But they, along with the rest of the country, know that the culture of corruption is so deeply ingrained in our political system that there’s little hope anything will ever change no matter who is elected.
[Dennis Ignatius |Kuala Lumpur | 21st November 2025]
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