With Hajiji and Shafie and Bung on its side, why the PH sits pretty in Sabah

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will have reason to be happy with Sabah’s political classroom. The Borneo state is perhaps the only state whose all State Assemblymen – both ruling and opposition – are part of the PMX’s Unity government.

This in a nutshell tells you the story of Sabah politics. The three principal parties – the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), Sabah Barisan Nastional (BN) and the Warisan – are bending backwards to be in the good books of the Pakatan Harapan (PH). In fact, Chief Minister Hajiji who usually keeps himself away from national politics, asked the opposition parties to do a rethink on their decision, saying Gabungan Rakyat Sabah  will never take part in any “langkah” (move) to topple the present federal government.

Therein lies a story. The decision to be seen on the side of the PH is not borne out of love for the Sabah PKR, Sabah DAP, Sabah Amanah and UPKO but by the desire of the Warisan and GRS and the BN to neutralise the other in the run-up to the state assembly elections on or before September 2025.

Technically, the Sabah Umno right now has an alliance with the Warisan. But that is only on paper because Sabah Umno’s dalliance with the Warisan is the worst-kept secret in Sabah.

Chastened by the humiliating defeat in 2020 and forced to eat humble pie, Shafie Apdal has been bending backwards to please the PH. At different public fora over the past one and a half years, Shafie has been laying it thick, hoping PMX would be suitably mollified. It has not fully happened. Shafie made a few bad moves, wanted to go solo in the 15th general election and fight PH to split votes and this was the second time that Shafie had snapped ties with the PH.  He had earlier blamed his alliance with the PH after his Warisan’s defeat in 2020, and during the ‘ Sheraton Move’ was seen sneaking into Muhyiddin’s house. But Shafie went back to PH after 2022 General Elections and supported Anwar Ibrahim as the 10th prime minister (PMX).

The flip side is that Shafie knows that the Warisan may find it hard to survive one more stint out of power. The Warisan in 2020 won 23 seats, but 11 of its assemblymen defected and for Parliament won only 3 of the 25 seats in 2022. It would need an enormous swing away from GRS to help Shafie slide into the driver’s seat in Sabah.

Sabah therefore is a peculiar state where the weakest political player is actually the strongest.

Happy Birthday, Tan Sri!

Happy birthday, Tan Sri Musa Aman, and many happy returns of the day. You are 69 today. With sincerity and humility, I pray for your good health.

You have come a long way, finish what you started, perjuangan mu belum selesai! Keep going Sir!

Stay safe and God Bless You Always Tan Sri!

Here is a song for you….

Review the Anti-hop law

The High Court decision that Sabah and Sarawak have the right under the Federal Constitution to impose sales tax on petroleum products sourced from the state is a major victory which suggests that the judiciary is free from political interference and more fair.

I dare say that such a decision would have been unheard of before where the federal government could be easily formed by one dominant party which even boasted about it.

Perhaps it is not too late to file for a judicial review of the 1992 federal court decision during Dr Mahathir’s administration that the Anti-Hop Law to prevent unprincipled politicians from frogging is undemocratic.

It was in 1985, that the idea of an Anti-Hop Law was mooted by the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) government.

In 1992, the Federal Court, the highest court in the land, ruled that an Anti-Hop law was unconstitutional as it is against the freedom of free association by an individual. Since then the Anti-Hop law was repealed.

That controversial decision allowed Dr Mahathir to form a backdoor government in Sabah despite PBS having won a slim majority of 25 seats against BNs 23 seats in the 1994 state elections.

Pairin Kitingan had to wait for more than 36 hours outside the palace (Istana) gates before he was sworn in as the chief minister because of manouvering by Barisan Nasional leaders who could not accept the people’s democratic verdict. PBS government lasted only about two weeks or a little more before it was forced out of power.

Happened again in 2018, May 9th GE14 after Musa Aman was sworn in as Chief Minister, UPKO frogs defected, the Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin said that Musa no longer commanded the majority and Shafie was sworn in as chief minister on the night of May 12. Another backdoor government via frogging!

Was it legally and morally right?

The question is not just whether it is legally right because even legally it is highly questionable.

Just because the 3 Appeal Court Judges accepted the Preliminary Objection (PO) does not mean they are right. Simply because, according to the lawyer on the other side, they were not given a chance to explain why it is illegal for a Chief Minister to be dismissed by the TYT within 48 hours of appointing him, when the Constitution states that only the Assembly can unseat a CM by Vote of Confidence.

As the Federal Constitution now stands, the Agong cannot arbitrarily dismiss the PM. Neither can any Menteri Besar be dismissed by the respective Sultans without undergoing the due process as laid out in their respective Constitution.

In the case of Sabah, following the May 9th GE14 and almost 48 hours after the election results were announced, and despite the eventual winner who had 29 seats and commanded a simple majority, with and addition of 2 more seats, had the rug pulled out from under his feet despite having been sworn in.

After unexplained lengthy delay, a swearing-in was promised at 8pm, until 11pm Musa was kept waiting to be sworn in. Almost 24 hours after results were announced, and that within 10 hours the next day he was asked to return the Appointment Letter. This lead many people to believe that horsetrading was going on. Which was confirmed when Upko Assemblymen frogged to Warisan side. At the time of the appointment of the CM this was not the case and he was sworn-in, so why did he have to lose his job after being sworn-in? With the new victors, resorting to Statutory Declaration (SD) rather than people’s vote, which is more important.

Similarly, the Prime Minister was made to wait several hours by the previous Agong after PH victory and that he too complained loudly that this should not have happened as people have spoken. In his case, the previous Agong apparently was abroad.

So, if this was unacceptable to the PM, what happened on the 9th May 2018 be acceptable to Sabahans? Fortunately, in the case of the PM, no Pakatan members frogged-over to BN to deny Dr Mahathir and Pakatan Harapan a victory. Perhaps it was due to the margin of seats being wide unlike in the Sabah case. Nevertheless, an unacceptable delay was allowed to happen with the PM being appointed but in Sabah a CM was also being constitutionally appointed. But yet, losing it due to horsetrading, never-mind the constitution, a Law Expert even joked in a seminar in Kota Kinabalu that Sabah politicians can win a medal for frog politics or something like that.

Its a pity that the Appeal Court Judges accepted the PO to deny the aggrieved in court.

The Counsel for the other side claimed on the grounds that any outcome is academic and he  based it on two main arguments :

1) even if Musa succeeded with his appeal there will be no consequence/outcome because Musa can never satisfy the threshold of Article 6 (3) of the Sabah Constitution which expressly states that the TYT appoints a member of the Assembly to be CM who has the command of the confidence of the majority of the members of the Assembly.

2) even if the Assembly is summoned, with the support of only eight out 60 assemblymen factually and mathematically Musa can never win a vote of confidence for himself or a vote against Shafie and unseat him.

Douglas Lind’s contention the case is academic.

However the larger question is not whether the successor commends the majority in the house the present moment, but whether it was Constitutionally correct to ask back from the CM, the letter of appointment. Just because subsequent to the appointment a bunch of politicians leapfrogged. Hence it is a question of whether it was legally right as well as morally right. From my understanding of the Constitution it was both legally and morally wrong and  I remain to be convinced.

My point is that the PM complained about having to wait long before being sworn-in following the GE14 results. In Sabah, a delay also happened in swearing in the CM but with different consequences.

Imagine if the PM was asked by the Agong to return the appointment letter just because some Pakatan Harapan winners decided to frog over to Barisan Nasional?

Would it then be a case of asking the PM to resign and not sacked?

The larger issue is also, does not what happened in Sabah raise the question, if unchallenged in the Federal Court, that to ordinary people like me, the TYT is the only head of state that can decide whether a CM that he had just constitutionally appointed can be dismissed by him within hours of doing so without going through the State Assembly, which is the rightful place to determine this.

By the same reasoning, does it not seem that the Sabah TYT may be seen to have powers that even the Agong and Sultans do not? I stand to be corrected?

Courts should have looked at whether a Sabah TYT enjoys greater powers than the Agong and Sultans in appointing the head of government and to help rectify if indeed this is the case now.

Because this problem is not addressed and peculiar to Sabah, this tendency of a Sabah TYT to delay appointing a CM has created crises on 3 occasions.

In 1985, 1994 n 2018.

Peoples voices not recognised in this 3 instances of Sabah’s political history – 1985, 1994 and 2018. In all 3 instances, the decisions took a different turn and the government was formed by frogging and other means.

In 1985, Party Bersatu Sabah (PBS) won the Sabah State election with a simple majority of 25 seats. However, PBS was not allowed to form the Sabah State Government by the Istana.

Joseph Pairin Kitingan was kept waiting for more then a day while power grab was underway in the wee hours of the morning. In which, USNO’s 16 seats collaborated with Berjaya’s 6 seats and the Sabah State Government was formed before the sun rose.

The schemers of this plan decided they can still form the government by laying claim to the 6 nominated state seat. The then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir was in Scandinavia and his deputy Musa Hitam had ordered the plotters to give up. Joseph Pairin Kitingan was then only sworn in as Chief Minister after almost 48 hours.

In 1994, something similar happened again with Pairin Kitingan and PBS as victims. This time, Pairin also won with a simple majority of 25 seats despite massive frogging by his assemblymen to government side due to the scrapping of the Anti-Hopping Law (The Barisan Nasional government challenged the Anti-Hop Law that was introduced in 1987 by the then PBS State Government in court and had it scrapped).

This time Pairin had to camp for 3 nights outside the Istana as the then TYT claimed he was too sick to open the Istana gates for Pairin to be sworn in. By the time the Istana gates were opened Pairin had already lost many of his Assemblymen and a new Chief Minister was sworn in after about a month. This eventually led to the downfall of the PBS State Government as the PBS election winners had joined Barisan Nasional parties.

In 2018, it happened again following GE14. But this time there was a major difference. While in 1985 and 1994 Pairin was not able to be sworn in instantly after the election results, this time, Musa Aman was already appointed Chief Minister after an unexplained delay of about 48 hours. And despite being sworn in with his Cabinet members, Musa Aman still lost his government to frogging.

This time the Upko boys did the frogging probably on the orders and advise of Tan Sri Bernard Dompok and despite pledging that as KDMs they will stick together and decide as a bloc and only leave the BN after consensus among themselves. Five assemblymen from Upko and one MP left BN to throw their support behind Warisan and Pakatan Harapan, a day after the general election.

Their action caused the collapse of the BN government led by former chief minister Musa Aman whose cabinet, which included two Upko assemblymen, had been sworn in less than 12 hours before.

I was there on that night of May 9th in Sri Gaya when Tangau came out and answered a phone call apparently from Dompok asking him to go to Shafie’s house in Luyang. Tangau disappeared from Sri Gaya after this phone call and headed straight to see Shafie in his house, alone, leaving all his UPKO boys with Musa Aman in Sri Gaya. Upko then switched allegiance to the Warisan-Pakatan Harapan pact a day after the election.

For how long more must Sabah continue to be the only state where the Assemblymen decides who is to form the government by becoming political frogs and not by the people who voted them?

In the end the CM is appointed through political frogs producing statutory declarations  (SD) instead of the peoples wish being respected.

 

This piece also came out in MALAYSIA TODAY. SEE HERE!!

Being played out 3 times is one too many for Sabahans

Peoples voices not recognised in 3 instances of Sabah’s political history – 1985, 1994 and 2018. In all 3 instances, the decisions took a different turn and the government was formed by frogging and other means.

In 1985, Party Bersatu Sabah (PBS) won the Sabah State election with a simple majority of 25 seats. However, PBS was not allowed to form the Sabah State Government by the Istana.

Joseph Pairin Kitingan was kept waiting for more then a day while power grab was underway in the wee hours of the morning. In which, USNO’s 16 seats collaborated with Berjaya’s 6 seats and the Sabah State Government was formed before the sun rose.

The schemers of this plan decided they can still form the government by laying claim to the 6 nominated state seat. The then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir was in Scandinavia and his deputy Musa Hitam had ordered the plotters to give up. Joseph Pairin Kitingan was then only sworn in as Chief Minister after almost 48 hours.

In 1994, something similar happened again with Pairin Kitingan and PBS as victims. This time, Pairin also won with a simple majority of 25 seats despite massive frogging by his assemblymen to government side due to the scrapping of the Anti-Hopping Law (The Barisan Nasional government challenged the Anti-Hop Law that was introduced in 1987 by the then PBS State Government in court and had it scrapped).

This time Pairin had to camp for 3 nights outside the Istana as the then TYT claimed he was too sick to open the Istana gates for Pairin to be sworn in. By the time the Istana gates were opened Pairin had already lost many of his Assemblymen and a new Chief Minister was sworn in. This eventually led to the downfall of the PBS State Government as the PBS election winners had joined Barisan Nasional parties.

In 2018, it happened again following GE14. But this time there was a major difference. While in 1985 and 1994 Pairin was not able to be sworn in instantly after the election results, this time, Tan Sri Musa Aman was already appointed Chief Minister after an unexplained delay of about 48 hours. And despite being sworn in with his Cabinet members, Musa Aman still lost his government to frogging.

This time the Upko boys did the frogging probably on the orders and advise of Tan Sri Bernard Dompok and despite pledging that as KDMs they will stick together and decide as a bloc and only leave the BN after consensus among themselves. Five assemblymen from Upko and one MP left BN to throw their support behind Warisan and Pakatan Harapan, a day after the general election.

Their action caused the collapse of the BN government led by former chief minister Musa Aman whose cabinet, which included two Upko assemblymen, had been sworn in less than 12 hours before.

I was there on that night of May 9th in Sri Gaya when Tangau came out and answered a phone call apparently from Dompok asking him to go to Shafie’s house in Luyang. Tangau disappeared from Sri Gaya after this phone call and headed straight to see Shafie in his house, alone, leaving all his UPKO boys with Musa Aman in Sri Gaya. Upko then switched allegiance to the Warisan-Pakatan Harapan pact a day after the election.

For how long more must Sabah continue to be the only state where the Assemblymen decides who is to form the government by becoming political frogs and not by the people who voted them?

Lets hope a right decision is made by the Court of Appeal on this November 28th on the appeal of Musa Aman against the High Court ruling over the legitimacy of Shafie Apdal as the Sabah chief minister.

Comparison has been made between Sabah CM row and the Perak Mentri Besar tussle. However it must be stressed that they are entirely different.

In the Perak case, the Sultan acted before the new Mentri Besar was appointed.

In the Sabah case, the worst case scenario happened, despite the CM and the Cabinet already sworn in.

In the Perak case, everyone is the Sultan’s subject and the Sultan has the right.

But in the Sabah case, it does not have a Sultan but only a Governor, who himself is nominated by politicians of the day.

Sukau Bridge may be revived: Peter Anthony

Will Sukau Bridge 2 Project be Peter Anthony’s next Pot of Gold at the expense of Bornean Pygmy Elephants, Orangutans and Proboscis Monkeys?

Peter Anthony is looking into reviving the Sukau Bridge 2 Project.

Even World’s No 1 environmental icon Sir Richard Attenborough and international environmental NGOs were heavily critical of this project. Sir Attenborough had said that Sabah’s global appeal as an ecotourism will be doomed if the Sukau Bridge 2 Project went ahead.

The UK Guardian newspaper published an article highlighting Sir David Attenborough’s concerns over the proposed bridge that would span 350m across the Kinabatangan River, threatening one of the last sanctuaries of the rare Bornean pygmy elephant.

Musa Aman had scrapped this project. Looks like Musa is the only true defender of the environment. Musa’s track record in saving Sabah’s environment cannot be denied.

The Sukau Bridge Project is RM223mil and split into two phases.

Phase 1 is RM67 million and it involves an approach road followed by a bridge across the Kinabatangan at Sukau.

Phase 2 is RM150 million and it involves upgrading 0.3km of the IOI dirt road before constructing an ambitious 1.38km of elevated bridge featuring a raft of viaducts for animals to cross a forested Lot 3 of the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary in addition to upgrading 1km of dirt road till Kg Moresem.

What Peter Anthony is suggesting is a slap in the face of Shafie Apdal as only yesterday Shafie had issued a stern warning to businesses, that the protection of wildlife in Sabah is absolute, and no compromise on wildlife.

The Kinabatangan Conservation Area is described as “Sabah’s Gift to the Earth” and has been dubbed the “Corridor of Life”.

Lets see if WWF opposes this project again as they did it in the past. In the past, the WWF representative RAHIMATSAH was vehemently against the Sukau Bridge 2 Project but now I hear RAHIMATSAH was recently awarded a project in the Danum Valley and may choose to stay silent.

I also heard last year a couple of soldiers were caught for poaching wildlife in the Danum Valley and so far nothing has come out of it.

Editor’s Note: 23rd August 2020, 1.20 AM

We have verified with our sources, Mr Rahimatsah was not awarded any projects in the Danum Valley and he did speak out against the Sukau Bridge Project. We apologise to Mr Rahimatsah for the mistake and we regret the error.

This article has been amended since publication.

Do not know who to believe

This came out today, 15th September 2019 in the Daily Express. See also here n here

Video: The formation of Malaysia!

As we celebrate the 56th anniversary of our beloved nation, it is time to reflect on the circumstances which led to the formation of Malaysia with Sarawak joining the Malayan states, Sabah and Singapore to give birth to a new federation on Sept 16, 1963.

Watch this video!

VIDEO : Shafie with Dr Mahathir’s Bersatu

Shafie Apdal’s dislike for Dr Mahathir’s Bersatu is so clear.

In April this year, the Sabah chapter of Dr Mahathir’s Bersatu was launched with nine assemblymen — eight from Umno and one from Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah — and five MPs. Now Dr Mahathir’s Bersatu is the second largest party in the Sabah state government and can boast to have close to 300,000 Sabahan card-carrying members, and more new members are joining, some even Warisan supporters from Sembulan and Likas.

Right from the beginning after taking over power as Chief Minister from Musa Aman, Shafie didn’t want the entry of Dr Mahathir’s PPBM (Bersatu) into Sabah.  After 15 months the differences deepen. There’s nothing new about a Warisan-Bersatu row. But when Bersatu happens to be Dr Mahathir the Prime Minister, and the chief minister, Shafie, the row is more like a clash of titans.

This video below showing Shafie criticising Dr Mahathir’s Bersatu (PPBM) and likening it to Umno has gone viral in Sabah. In the clip, Shafie is seen in casual conversation with at least two ladies about Dr Mahathir’s Bersatu and is heard saying that the party is “just like Umno”, and asked why they would join Dr Mahathir’s Bersatu? While the woman said that they heard they will lose their voice in Warisan.

Its a two-minute video, but here it is…

P.S:  Shafie has responded

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/08/22/its-an-old-clip-shafie-says-on-ppbm-umno-video/

KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Shafie Apdal today dismissed a video of him appearing to equate PPBM with Umno, saying the clip which has been making the rounds on social media is an old one.

Speaking to reporters after an event here today, Shafie, who is the president of Warisan, said the remarks in the video were about PPBM spreading its wings to Sabah.

“Previously, we had an understanding that PPBM would not enter Sabah,” he said.

“We knew there were members in our party who doubted and who were concerned, as well as those who wanted to leave because they had no positions.

“But it’s an old story. Today we are together, so we will work with each other with PPBM in the state.”

In an agreement with Warisan before the general election last year, PPBM said it would not set foot in Sabah.

However, the party chaired by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad launched a chapter in the state in April.

The two-minute clip in question had shown a man resembling Shafie holding a lively conversation with several women who are believed to have sought his views on joining PPBM.

“This PPBM is Umno. Why do you want to join them?” he asked.

He also said that joining PPBM would be akin to supporting Sabah PPBM chief Hajiji Mohd Noor, the former Sabah Umno chief who led dozens of Sabah Umno members to cross over to PPBM early this year.

………..

Even for the his year’s (2019) state-level National Day celebration, PPBM was not invited, see here…

Dakwaan Tidak Hadir Sambutan Hari Kebangsaan Peringkat Negeri ADUN BERSATU TIDAK TERIMA SURAT JEMPUTAN

KOTA KINABALU:Respond Menteri Pembangunan Infrastruktir Sabah, Datuk Peter Anthony, berhubung ketiadaan Ahli-Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Sabah dalam Majlis Sambutan Hari Kebangsaan Peringkat Negeri Sabah semalam, menimbulkan persoalan.

Peter yang juga merupakan Pengerusi Penganjur menyatakan bahawa urusetia telah menghantar surat jemputan kepada para ADUN Bersatu Sabah.

Namun, semakan Borneonews kepada beberapa orang ADUN Bersatu mendapati mereka tidak menerima sebarang jemputan untuk menghadiri majlis berkenaan.

Persoalan yang timbul adalah adakah Peter sendiri tidak mendapat maklumat yang tepat daripada pihak urusetia, ataupun ada pihak dalaman yang sengaja ingin sabotaj, ataupun mungkin ada pihak dalam Kerajaan Negeri Sabah yang sehingga kini masih tidak senang dengan kewujudan parti Bersatu di Sabah, sungguhpun parti tersebut adalah parti pimpinan Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad sendiri.

Ini adalah kerana bukan sahaja Sambutan Hari Kebangsaan tersebut, namun sebahagian besar majlis rasmi Kerajaan Negeri masih tidak menjemput para pemimpin Bersatu Sabah dengan kaedah yang teratur.

Menurut sumber Bersatu Sabah, dalam satu majlis berbuka puasa anjuran Kerajaan Negeri yang melibatkan kehadiran Dr. Mahathir sendiri, penganjur tidak menjemput para pemimpin Bersatu secara rasmi sehinggalah saat akhir jemputan dibuat hanya melalui aplikasi whatsapp melalui pihak ketiga, hanya setelah wakil Bersatu membuat semakan sama ada para pemimpin Bersatu dijemput dalam majlis tersebut.

Sumber Bersatu juga menyatakan, bukan sekadar Sambutan Hari Kebangsaan tersebut, malah majlis rasmi pada malam hari yang sama, yang juga melibatkan kehadirian Tuan Yang Terutama (TYT) iaitu Sambutan Maal Hijrah 1441H, para ADUN, Ahli Parlimen dan Ahli Dewan Negara daripada Bersatu tidak mendapat sebarang jemputan.

Sumber tersebut juga menyatakan kekesalan pihak Bersatu Sabah terhadap pihak yang cuba menimbulkan isu berhubung ketiadaan para ADUN mereka dalam sambutan tersebut, sedangkan hakikat sebenarnya mereka tidak menerima jemputan atau memang tidak dijemput.-pr/BNN65

Is Dompok the reason for the situation of the KDMs’ today?

Daily Express got it wrong.

Shafie should be grateful to Tan Sri Bernard Giluk Dompok and not Wilfred Madius Tangau.

According to my sources in UPKO which I believe, it was Bernard Dompok who convinced Tangau to jump ship on that night of May 9th 2018 and join Shafie after realising that PH had the majority to form the Federal Government.

I was there on that night of May 9th in Sri Gaya when Tangau came out and answered a phone call apparently from Dompok asking him to go to Shafie’s house in Luyang. Tangau disappeared from Sri Gaya after this phone call and went straight to see Shafie in his house alone, leaving all his UPKO boys with Musa Aman in Sri Gaya.

Upko then switched allegiance to the Warisan-Pakatan Harapan pact a day after the election.

Former Sabah Chief Minister Dompok was the first Malaysian to be made a resident ambassador to the Vatican in 2016 and he wanted to save his job when the PH formed the Federal Government. So, he had convinced Tangau to get UPKO jump ship from BN.

I can now understand why PBS is still bitter about UPKOs betrayal. It is because Dr Maximus Ongkili (PBS), Tangau (UPKO) and Joseph Kurup (PBRS) had signed a pledge a week before the May 9th GE14 elections to discuss together as “MISOMPURU” first, before deciding on the next course of action so as to safeguard KDM interests by acting as a bloc.

There was great hope that the presidential council of Upko, PBS and PBRS would pave the way to unite the three main Kadazandusun Murut (KDM)-majority parties in Sabah. The council was seen as a platform to eventually bring together the politically fractious KDM community.

Maximus Ongkili believed that the council could one day unite the KDM parties under a single symbol. That was before it was betrayed by UPKO, moments after GE14.

For UPKO to dishonour what they signed in public and carried in all the media was the  community’s biggest betrayal.

But it is something that is not a surprise considering that their Payar Juman went down in history as Sabahs first political frog. In 1967, UPKO left the Sabah Alliance after the state elections, then Upko’s assemblyman for Kiulu, Payar Juman, crossed to Usno, enabling Usno to form the government then.

Next was when Huguan Siou Tun Fuad Stephens himself betrayed the KDMs by waiting till GS Sundang was in United Kingdom before calling for an EGM to dissolve UPKO. In the EGM Stephens had asked all the UPKO members to join USNO despite angry demands by members not to do so but he himself leaving them in a lurch. Poor GS Sundang who was deputy president was played out.

So if according to historical fact if the Huguan Siou Stephens can do this to his own people, Dr Max should have known better than to expect there will be no betrayal.

The third betrayal, took place in 1994, when  Bernard Dompok from then opposition PBS joined the BN alliance to form the government. I know this vividly as I was a PBS member and I stood for elections in Penang as a PBS candididate.

So looking back,  I dont blame Madius, I blame Dompok!

I hope Dompok will come forward to answer all these allegations.

Besides all that, see  Tangau’s Facebook posting today :

See this video, UPKO leaders at a recent Public Forum in Kota Kinabalu raising the illegal immigrant issue. Not just public forums ,UPKO leaders should also be raising the (PTI ) illegal immigrant issue in the Sabah State Assembly (DUN). But its not laughing matter, UPKO is part of the Warisan-PH Sabah government.