Looks like UMNO, sounds like UMNO and smells like UMNO! But damn, it’s PKR!

Constitutional amendments carried through at the recently concluded UMNO assembly were touted as intended to address the problem of money politics that had long plagued the party’s elections.

Whether those amendments will in fact achieve that stated objective remains to be seen.

And if such amendments prove to be effective, one wonders if PKR, too,  is up to the task of doing whatever is necessary to rid itself of the cancerous money politics that has, in recent days, become the order of the day in Sabah.

No, not vote-buying but, so my source tells me, buying acquiescence and submission, at divisional head level, of the most recent decision made at Merchant Square with regard to the state level leadership.

NSTonline reported last Saturday that new Sabah PKR state chief, Thamrin, claimed that 17 division chiefs or their representatives had attended the first meeting chaired by him the day before and were all supportive of his leadership of PKR Sabah.

Someone who was at the meeting assures me that Thamrin’s claim is pure fiction.

“Divisional heads who were in attendance were Thamrin for Libaran, Kudat’s Mursalim, Johani Abd Halim of Silam, Kalabakan’s Datuk Dr. Amir, Ghani Medeh of Kinabatangan, Tuaran’s Ansari, Datuk Kong of Tawau and Ranau’s Jonathan Yasin. Thamrin may lay claim to have the support of these seven, though that is seriously debatable”, my source disclosed over the phone.

“It would be a joke, though, to suggest that Hj. Ag Tangah of Kimanis and Jalumin Samin of Kota Belud who also attended the meeting lent their support to the new state leadership”, the source continued.

“Division chiefs who did not attend were that of Keningau, Kota Kinabalu, Tenom, Pensiangan, Beluran, Batu Sapi, Semporna, Beaufort, Papar, Penampang and Putatan. Representatives, in place of some  division heads, attended for Sepanggar, Kota Kinabalu, Papar and  Sipitang”, my source detailed.

Word on the ground, my source went on, is that more and more, Thamrin is seen as a mere puppet who dances to the tune played by yet another Anwar loyalist, Ansari.

“Ansari is calling the shots. Thamrin hasn’t a clue of what is going on.”, my source explained.

“During the pc after his meeting, Thamrin denied allegations that his predecessor, Azmin Ali, had been undemocratic in settling the matter of his replacement. Do you know that in earlier meetings, before his appointment, Thamrin was most critical of Azmin? Ask the other division chiefs privately, and they will tell you the same. If you’re going to ask, though, it better be soon because a lot of money is being tossed about in the hope of buying support for a decision by HQ that is beginning to turn into a nightmare that KL never imagined would happen. Papar division has already held a meeting to dissolve the division and more will follow unless the problem created by the appointment of Thamrin in total disregard of local sentiment is corrected. Buying the support of divisions will allow some people in KL to save face.”, my source went on.

I said that as far as I knew, PKR wasn’t exactly rolling in money, so who was funding this, if indeed this was true.

“A filthy rich Dato Gulam who is related to the Chief Minister is also very closely connected to Ansari. You can figure the rest yourself, I’m sure. The funny thing is that, in an attempt to discredit Jeffrey, rumours have been spread that he might be a BN plant. For many of us over here in Sabah PKR, it’s becoming more and more obvious who that plant might be.”, the source replied.

“Another rumour that appears to be coming out of KL, to try and justify bypassing Jeffrey as state chief, is that Jeffrey was in discussions with other parties in Sabah well before the decision to appoint Thamrin was made, and these people are pointing to the so-called hush-hush talks that are supposed to have taken place between Jeffrey and Yong of SAPP recently as evidence of this. For this reason, so the story goes, Jeffrey could not, in the interest of Sabah, be appointed.”

“KL must understand that Sabah politicians have long learned not to completely trust their counterparts from Semenanjung. And so Sabah politicians will continue to talk with each other, to put in contingencies, just in case KL politicians live up to their reputation. True enough, see what happened in Sabah? First, Azmin appointed without any consultation with the locals. Then the choice of the locals as replacement for Azmin completely disregarded by KL.”

“Now there’s talk that Jeffrey is either going to join PBS or one of the other parties. Not true. You wait and see. He’s going to get a new outfit off the ground. One that will definitely be able to work with the other local parties. And that will spell the end of PKR in Sabah.”, my source continued.

I suggested that if the opposition was to have any chance of knocking BN out at the federal level at the next GE, surely there would be need for some sort of real collaboration between politicians in Semenanjung and East Malaysia. Someone would have to take the lead, be it from Semenanjung or Sabah or Sarawak. Was it the case that East Malaysians were unprepared to have someone from KL lead them, I asked.

“For now, Zaid appears to have left a favourable impression with us. Mind you, he is from KL, so even Zaid we will not trust completely. Not yet, anyway.”, my source replied.