Will Sabah’s Shafie challenge Umno?

If media reports were to be believed, support for former Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in his constituency Pagoh is still intact.

How big is the division among the Malays throughout the country – nobody can be sure – as the number can change as political debates progress.

Lets observe how about Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, a former minister of rural and regional development from Sabah. Many Sabahans are at a loss about him apart from people in his constituency, Semporna.

East of Sabah – like Tawau, Lahad Datu and Sandakan – which seem to be full of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s supporters, especially where there are many Indonesians newcomers reside.

In the west coast, interior, north of Sabah, if Shafie was to throw a challenge to Umno leaders, he has to develop a formidable strategy to win. Sabah Umno is very much with Najib, and with Najib’s man Datuk Seri Musa Aman in control.

Talking about Shafie challenging Musa is new. The only time people get to hear Shafie’s name was during GE13.

In the interior and west coast, Shafie was at one time close to Datuk Dr Yusof Yaacob, former MP of Sipitang who helped introduced him to these parts of Sabah. Ironically Yusof wasn’t and isn’t the blue-eyed boy of Musa.

That was why Yusof was easily squeezed out by Musa’s man, Datuk Sapawi Ahmad in most of the competition for Umno posts in Sipitang.

Since Shafie’s name is less audible to many Sabahans, many don’t have nice things to say either. Their view of Shafie is well assimilated into Malayan’s culture some say, more Malayan than Malayan.

He spent most of his time in the peninsula rather than in Sabah and lost touch with rural Sabah, being a minister in charge of rural development.

The other choice available to Shafie is that he teams up with the opposition, most of them are his friends after all.

Since the east coast of Sabah is the where the Umno “fixed deposits” are really secured, Shafie’s presence would perhaps help changed the demography of Umno’s “fixed deposit” in the east coast.

All being said, unlike Sabah opposition members who think more about the Sabahans who voted for them, Shafie’s political lifeline has been with Umno, thus unlikely for him to take this proposition.



Comment by Amde Sidik