Reviving crossovers and party hopping in Sabah

KUALA LUMPUR:  Sabah politics, once besieged by crossovers and party-hoppings, seems set to revive the infamous tradition.

Latest on the grapevine are the resignations tendered by Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin and United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) deputy president Datuk Seri Wilfred Mojilip Bumburing.

Currently, both Lajim and Bumburing are MPs for Beaufort and Tuaran respectively.

Bumburing had disclosed that he would be making an important announcement with regard to the future of his political struggle at a gathering in Tuaran on Sunday. Reportedly, Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be attending the same gathering. 

In anticipation of a crossover, the Bumburing as well as Lajim's episode is heralded by pro-Pakatan bloggers as a major coup while their pro-Barisan Nasional counterparts dismissed it as a non-event.

An article carried out by Malaysia Chronicle, which was highlighted by blogger Muslimeen United, claimed that the developments had terrified Prime Minister and Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

The article speculated that more Sabah politicians will emulate Bumburing and Lajim as a show of protest to BN.

However, blogger 1Kota Belud said the history of Sabah politics will show that the two MPs are well-known of their inconsistencies even though they had been serving the Government for more than a decade.

"Both Lajim and Bumburing had been with the state government under the PBS ticket but there's nothing much to be seen and valued.

"Look at the development in their constituencies, there's nothing to be proud of and most of the development had been undertaken by their predecesors," the blogger said.

The blogger, however, warned that the two MPs can be a catalyst for more crossovers in Sabah.

Lajim started his political career by joining United Sabah National Organization (Usno) on 1970, then joining Parti Berjaya a few months later. Later in 1983 he joined PBS and became an Umno man in 1994.

Bumburing started his career with PBS on 1985 before crossing over to Parti Demokratik Sabah (PDS) in 1994 and joined Upko in 2005.

NST Sabah bureau chief Joniston Bangkuai, in his column, said Bumburing is obviously unhappy with what he perceived as a "lack of seriousness" on the part of the government to deal with the so-called issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah being granted citizenship.

However, according to Joniston, some of Bumburing's Upko colleagues claimed the real reason he had been contemplating to leave the party and BN was because he would likely not be re-nominated to defend the Tuaran parliamentary seat.

Another article stated politics in Sabah had been witness to crossovers and party hoppings with the most significant in recent years would be that in 1994.

It was just after the State elections which saw ruling party PBS winning narrowly with a 25-23 margin.

Three days after the victory, PBS lost the state helm when three of its assemblymen decided to jump ship. Ironically, Lajim was one three.

Source: MOLE