LDP bears brunt in Umno’s secret war

Michael Kaung

Sabah Umno is not a reliable bet for Umno president Najib Tun Razak going into the 13th general election.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman has been unable to heal festering wounds within the Barisan Nasional ranks.

Some political observers went so far as to say that these wounds continue to turn gangrenous with encouragement from Musa.

Take, for instance, BN component party member Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Both LDP and Umno are still at each other’s throat over the effectiveness of the state administration under Musa who has been accused of poor leadership.

LDP leaders are particularly vexed with Musa over his alleged mismanagement of the state and his unwillingness to face criticism.

They have also raised questions over his suitability to remain as chief minister given that his close associates have been linked to money-laundering and unexplained cash deposits in a Hong Kong bank that prompted an on-going investigation by the ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption).

LDP’s complaints about Musa have set off a series of counter-attacks against the former by Musa’s most ardent supporters.

Several of them have lavished praise on his leadership of the state BN as well as that of the state which has been hit by a series of administrative foul-ups.

In the latest flare-up, a district chief aligned to Umno launched a scathing attack on LDP leaders, telling them to “shut up” while at the same time questioning Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for giving its leader, VK Liew, a senior position in his administration.

Bid to cripple LDP

Kudat district chief Harun Bidin’s outburst this week was all the more startling given that he is merely a state government appointee who is bound by civil service rules and regulations.

The state administration’s failure to censure him has lent credence to a long-held belief that Musa is doing all within his power to cripple the smaller and oldest BN coalition member in the state.

The public falling-out between Musa and LDP has its roots in an incident in 2006 when a barge carrying building materials beached itself on Pulau Sipadan, the internationally acclaimed diving spot and allegedly destroyed a vast area of corals just metres offshore.

The incident sent shock waves around the international diving community and environmentalists.

The beached barge was carrying steel and concrete mixing supplies but until then, no one had known a building project had been approved on the pristine island.

The chief minister at the time was LDP president Chong Kah Kiat who was also in charge of the State Tourism, Environment and Culture portfolio.

Musa, who was state Finance Minister at the time, tried to pin the blame on Chong and the state tourism officials.

But Chong refused to take the blame for the incident.

Chong categorically stated that his ministry had nothing to do with the administration of Pulau Sipadan and that the RM5 million project on the island was awarded by Musa and the state finance ministry.

This opened a rift between the two.

Old war

It is also no secret that Musa was already miffed by Chong’s lack of support for his brother-in-law Hamid Egoh, the former state secretary, for the post of Sabah governor and instead picked the retired Ahmadshah Abdullah.

These two events led to Musa to strike out against Chong as soon as he became chief minister under former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s rotation formula.

Musa’s first move against his former friend was to nix the construction of the world’s tallest Mazu (Goddess of the Sea) statue at its original location in Kudat.

It was Chong’s pet project. The move infuriated Chong so much so that he resigned his post as a minister in Musa’s cabinet.

He eventually stepped down from active politics but not before he sued the state government over the matter.

Though Chong eventually lost the suit on a technicality, there was no let-up by Musa against LDP as many of its leaders, including Liew (a deputy federal minister), Senator Chin Su Phin and state assemblyman Teo Chee Kang continued to support Chong.

When LDP leaders began calling for Musa’s head about a year ago, all semblance of polite manoeuvring went out the window and open war was declared.

LDP vice-president Peter Pang, who was a Sabah deputy chief minister and state youth and sports minister, announced his resignation from the LDP but was retained by Musa in his Cabinet against BN protocol.

Political manipulation

These political manoeuvrings by some to retain their positions in the state government were of little consequence.

“It will be sorted out in the next state and general elections… no one can twist and turn forever,” said a former politician.

What matters is that the bitter recriminations virtually boil down to a “business disaster” for Musa over the Pulau Sipadan accident, a loss of face over the failure to bag the governor’s post for a family member, and the Mazu incident.

These continue to affect the administration of the state.

Another worrying symptom of administrative malaise in the Sabah government is the open rebellion of a political appointee against an elected member of the State Legislative Assembly.

Bidin, who was handpicked by Musa, has usurped the power of elected representatives and is being encouraged to do so for political purposes.

Never before has a district chief dared to demand an elected representative and a senator to resign, calling one of them “insensitive, uncreative and ineffective wakil rakyat”.

This is what Bidin told Chin and Teo when they complained that under the current administration, the Kudat district had been ignored because it was under the control of LDP.

“Hand over the seat to Umno or MCA,” the Umno Kudat treasurer told the local newspapers in a statement openly mocking Teo for complaining that he (Bidin) had gone over his head in dismissing and appointing village heads in the district.

Bidin himself has been accused of campaigning for the opposition and against BN candidates during the last general election, a charge he was never asked to explain.

Bidin’s warning

Speaking as though he had taken over the position of Sabah BN leader, a post held by Musa, Bidin reminded all Umno’s coalition partners in the state not to forget that “Umno is the principal partner of BN in Sabah”.

Lurking in the background is the shadowy figure of Shafie Apdal, the Federal Rural and Regional Development Minister who has his eye on the chief minister’s post much to the discomfort of Musa.

The only reason Chin was appointed senator was that he had the backing of Shafie.

According to sources, Musa was adamant that Chin not be recommended for senatorship but Shafie’s influence at national level appears stronger.

Political watchers believe Najib himself is wary of Sabah’s influence on Umno politics at national level.
“Umno under the stewardship of Musa is now getting stronger.

“Sabah Umno has even surpassed Johor by having the most Umno members in Malaysia,” Bidin said in a statement seen as a warning to all Musa’s detractors inside and outside Sabah.

A split within Sabah Umno damages its potential kingmaker’s role at the national level. It is for this reason that Shafie, the Semporna MP, becomes an important figure.

For now, the LDP leadership is bearing the brunt in the secret war for control of Umno.