KOTA KINABALU, Oct 29 — The recent spate of arrests in relation to an alleged case of embezzlement in the Rural and Regional Development Ministry may actually benefit the Opposition, analysts said.
Investigations revealed apparent corrupt business deals during the time Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal helmed the ministry from 2009 to 2015 but analysts say that people are sceptical of the arrests by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
“It’s not that they don’t trust the MACC. People like what they’re doing but many are questioning the timing. Why now? Why not when he was in power?” said Universiti Malaysia Sarawak professor Jeniri Amir.
Last year’s exposé on the Sabah Water Department’s top officials, where tens of millions of ringgit in cash plus other forms of tangible and intangible wealth were seized, did not get the same reaction.
Members of the public were angry last year that thousands of Sabahans struggled to get access to water while the officials were squirreling away millions of ringgit. This time, though, the arrests were met with questions.
Shafie, when pulled aside by reporters upon arrival in Kota Kinabalu after his vice-president Datuk Peter Anthony was arrested, had asked the same question.
He pulled out a document acknowledging his ministry’s outstanding performance from 2009 to 2012 to back up his statement and said the arrests were a political attack designed to weaken his party as elections loomed.
Since then, a total of 13 people, including Shafie himself and other Parti Warisan Sabah leaders have been detained to further facilitate investigations into some 70 projects under Shafie’s former ministry.
“People are asking if he was given such good rankings during his time as an Umno minister, why is it being questioned now? Why did the auditors not catch it earlier? This is serious.
“People want the arrests and investigations to be extended to non-Warisan leaders, too,” said Jeniri.
While it has been widely acknowledged that in Sabah bread and butter issues used to trump corruption and good governance issues, analysts think voters have now matured.
Political analyst Prof Arnold Puyok said voters in rural areas have become increasingly aware of good governance issues.
“Issues like ineffective public delivery, lack of infrastructure development or development promises that are still unfulfilled… are all leading towards quiet dissatisfaction.
“This is the result from our survey on the ground. They’re not satisfied, and the arrests may pull in some public sympathy but it may or may not translate to votes,” said Puyok.
While Jeniri said that being tangled in such scandals involving misuse of public funds is never good, especially for a fledgling party, it could definitely work in their favour to gain public sympathy if they play their cards right.
“Hopes that the arrests would sink the Opposition… this depends on their strategy and whether the Opposition can convince people they are being politically victimised. It worked in the Anwar Ibrahim case.
“People do support MACC’s action in cleaning up corruption, so it depends if they can go to the ground, with a good political narrative and rhetoric that can convince people to sympathise with them,” he said.
Jeniri said current sentiment on the ground, pre-MACC arrests, showed that the multi-racial Parti Warisan Sabah stood a chance in winning some seats from the majority BN state, particularly the non-Muslim Bumiputera seats
“They are particularly influential among the KDM community so the arrests have struck a nerve,” he said, referring to the Kadazandusun-Murut.
Shafie, who has been Semporna MP since 1995, was dropped from the federal Cabinet after criticising the prime minister’s handling of state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
He was suspended from Umno where he was vice-president and subsequently quit to form his own party in Sabah.
He was arrested by the MACC on October 19 as part of the latter’s probe into the alleged misappropriation of RM1.5 billion from the ministry.
Another political observer linked to a BN party, who declined to be named, said that Sabahans are angry at the thought of funds being siphoned into a politician’s pocket but at the same time, are “not naïve” to think this is confined to one minister.
“They feel that this is a widespread problem already and this is just a result of Shafie leaving the party. It would not have come to light if he was still an Umno minister,” he said.
When asked how it would affect the coming election, the observer said it could rally Opposition support and possibly unite some of the fractured Opposition parties.
He also likened the arrest of Shafie to political victimisation similar to that of former chief minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan when the latter walked out on Parti Berjaya in 1985.
Pairin, at odds with Berjaya president Harris Salleh, was seen as victimised by the party and left to form Parti Bersatu Sabah just six weeks before the 1985 Sabah elections which he then won, creating history as the first time Sabah became an Opposition state.
“Sabahans, particularly the KDMs, have been on a ’Sabah for Sabahans’ campaign for a while now, and this arrest could be seen as another ‘Malaya’ controlling tactic,” he said.
