The Home Minister is reported as telling the navy, which is under the defence minister, to go ahead and shoot. But the Home Minister did not say whether he authorises his own police force to shoot. On the other hand, the Attorney General advised against such shootings while the Prime Minister called for clearer rules. The outcome is even more confusion.
The Home Minister talks about the Sultan Sulu claiming Sabah, yet an UMNO leader who crowned himself as "Sulu Sultan" at Kota Kinabalu a few years ago not only walked free but has re-surfaced to repeat his Sultanate position.
Having lost credibility over the dismal failure to keep his promise to name the 3 opposition leaders who he alleged were behind the 2013 Tanduo incursion, the Home Minister now said that the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) is being behind the intrusions and kidnappings.
If this (MNLF involvement) is true, then the Malaysian government must immediately set up SabahCom to cover the whole of Sabah and not just Esscom, something that our security intelligence services should be aware of.
As for Home Minster's view that MNLF is taking revenge for Malaysia's backing for the MILF (More Islamic Liberation Front) in the Comprehensive Agreement on the BangsaMoro, he must ask his foreign minister, whose ministry had at the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) Foreign Ministers conference in December 2013 and again June 2014, renewed support for the Jakarta 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the Philippines government and the MNLF and the 1976 Tripoli Accord, being the two agreements that established the policy of the OIC towards the Southern Philippines conflict. OIC had stated that the Philippines had overlooked these 2 agreements.
If, as claimed by the Home Minister, that MNLF (an OIC official observer) is behind an attack on an OIC Member, Malaysia, what has Malaysia done about this at OIC? What is Malaysia going to do about the MNLF members in Malaysia? Who trained MNLF? Who supplied MNLF?
Further, the Home Minister said the kidnappings were meant to raise funds for MNLF but the Prime Minister and senior officials have repeatedly said that no ransom was paid, instead, proudly claimed that the hostages were rescued by Malaysian security forces (and not released by the kidnappers). If our security forces were able to penetrate the kidnappers' lair at Jolo and islands to rescue the victims, how is it that we were not able to prevent them from entering Sabah and not able to fight them?
The saddest thing is that Sabah people are the ones to lose out and can only watch with despair at the failure of the federal government to guarantee the security of Sabah.
Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee is a former Chief Minister of Sabah and President of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP)
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