KOTA KINABALU, Feb 21 — When Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that his party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), will be spreading its wings to Sabah, among the first questions were who will be leading it.
Unlike in the peninsula, it is unlikely that the party will continue with its understanding that no defecting lawmaker can hold a position in Sabah, given that it is a new entity in the state after GE14.
If that is true, most political observers say the obvious choice will be Sulaman Assemblyman Datuk Hajiji Mohd Noor, who took over the Umno reigns when Tan Sri Musa Aman left the State after the contentious polls.
Dr Mahathir has said that the party will take in former Umno lawmakers provided they remained independents for a certain duration and passed a “vetting” process.
Hajiji is seen as the leader of the ex-Umno lawmakers who had quit en masse in December following a loss of confidence in the party leadership. He led nine assemblymen and five MPs out of the party.
“If Dr Mahathir changes the rules for Sabah in not allowing defecting lawmakers to hold a post then Hajiji seems to be the natural choice — a senior and seasoned Muslim leader in Sabah,” said political analyst Arnold Puyok.
“They will be looking for someone who can unite the Muslim community and is accepted by other communities,” said Puyok.
“In this case, it seems like he is the right choice — he doesn’t have a lot of political baggage, and has a cordial relationship with other parties. He is okay with Shafie, okay with Bung, okay with PBS, okay with the federal leaders, and an electable leader.
“There is no reason that the leadership won’t choose him to help build the party in Sabah,” said another source within the former Umno group.
One person said to be lobbying for the position is Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah president Datuk Lajim Ukin, a veteran politician formerly with Umno and then PKR before setting up his own party.
“However, I don’t think there should be distinction between Peninsula and Sabah when considering defecting lawmakers for positions.
“Sabah is not an opposition government, they are part of Pakatan Harapan, so there is no danger of toppling the government. If you plan on taking over the government, then the rule is more acceptable,” he said.
Lajim, who has said that he would be dissolving his party to pave the way for 64,000 of its members to join PPBM, has not openly said he would like to helm the Sabah branch of the party but that he would wait for the leadership to decide.
Another name thrown into the hat is Kimanis MP Datuk Anifah Aman, but by his own admission, the former Foreign Minister said he would remain as an independent MP for the time being and was not part of the group ready to join PPBM.
Anifah was the first MP from Sabah to quit Umno last year.
A viral image of an alleged pro-tem committee has set tongues wagging if PPBM were to abide by its rule of not allowing defecting lawmakers to hold posts.
The image of a chart featured Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) leader Datuk Dasim Ricky Jikah as Sabah PPBM chairman, Upko member Ceasar Mandela Malakun as vice-chairman and independent Nabawan assemblyman Bobbey Suan, who left Upko in November last year, as the committee’s secretary.
“Unverified, the information seems unlikely to be true, and is probably someone trying to lobby and create confusion,” said a political analyst.
“It’s not likely that all of the former Sabah Umno MPs or assemblymen be left out of the list. Some Umno guys will get something,” he said.
