MEMBAKUT: Analysts believe that “ego” and a state of denial are among the factors that contributed to Parti Warisan Sabah’s defeat in the Kimanis by-election, which saw Barisan Nasional defending its traditional seat with a 2,029-vote majority.
Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) political researcher Dr Romzi Ationg said the attitude of Warisan leaders and the weakening support from the grassroots had affected the party’s position.
“I found that many in the party have become increasingly egoistic, no longer interested in the interest of voters and ‘pejuang asal’ (the grassroots),” he told the New Straits Times.
“In many cases, some leaders even denied the importance of maintaining (original) supporters’ backing by taking care of the latter’s interests.
“Instead, they focused on entertaining new party members who joined (crossed over from other parties) after the 14th General Election.”
These new members, Romzi said, were never interested in consolidating Warisan’s power in Sabah, but instead focused on their economic and political survival under the new party.
“There is nothing wrong with the party, but (it is mainly about) the leadership of the party. When dealing with issues such as the Sabah Temporary Pass (PSS), these leaders were unable to give a clear explanation.
“As a result, voters were unconvinced by the idea (concerning PSS), although it is aimed at solving the illegal immigrant problem.”
He said Warisan’s defeat was exacerbated by its failure to make its “Sabah for Sabahan” slogan work, adding that some voters were sceptical about the tagline as it would only encourage parties from the peninsula to play a significant role in Sabah politics.
When asked whether BN’s victory indicated that Umno was relevant in Sabah, Romzi said he didn’t think so.
“I’m interested in the idea that the result was a protest against many issues, such as PSS, slowdown of development and leaders’ attitude.
“However, we can’t deny that Umno has placed Warisan in an uneasy situation as the polls results signal an interest among voters to look at the performance of the party.
“Failure to perform will lead to a political disaster for the party.”
Another UMS academician, Dr Lee Kuok Tiung, said the main factor contributing to BN’s win was its well-organised election machinery, which comprised of more locals.
“It is not only about PSS. PSS is not a political issue played up by the opposition, but it’s an issue that most Sabahans are concerned about,” he said.
“Maybe the government needs to consider terminating or delaying the (PSS) idea until a study is done.
“If you ask (Warisan) supporters, they’re still in denial, unwilling to accept the fact that it is a matter of public interest and national security.”
He said outside voters, who mostly are young, played a crucial role in the by-election, describing them as “the real game-changers”.
“They’re educated. So we cannot say they are being misled about PSS. I guess they’ve different priorities on issues as they are working and residing in Kota Kinabalu (urban) areas. Their concerns are more on bread-and-butter issues.”
He said BN winning the by-election did not mean that Umno had emerged as the strongest opposition compared with other local opposition parties
“Umno’s success is because of the cooperation between the party and other opposition parties. Sleeping giant Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) delivered an awesome result for the BN candidate.
“It (PBS) won all the district polling centres assigned to it. (Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah deputy president) Arthur Joseph Kurup’s speech was also superb, simple and easy to understand,” he said.
Lee said Warisan’s allies, particularly United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko), failed to deliver results in terms of gaining Kadazandusun Murut (KDM) votes.
“I feel that KDM Malaysia led by (Warisan vice-president Datuk) Peter Anthony is doing better than Upko.
“During nomination day, we also saw many leaders coming down, but they were not there throughout the two-week campaign.”
On Saturday, BN’s Datuk Mohamad Alamin won the seat, obtaining 12,706 votes against Warisan’s Datuk Karim Bujang, who polled 10,677 votes.