KOTA KINABALU: The admission of United Sabah National Organisation (Usno) into the ruling Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition is baffling political observers.
The move is being watched closely as Usno is considered a lightweight party, while applications by three other parties have been rejected for now.
These include Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) led by former Parti Warisan vice-president Datuk Peter Anthony.
Local political observer Mohammed Rahezzal Shah Abdul Karim said that he was puzzled by the decision by the GRS supreme council which favoured Usno led by former Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin.
“It’s perplexing as Usno doesn’t have any seats or well known personalities other than the president himself,” he said.
But at the same time, he said Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) led by Datuk Seri Anifah Aman also did not have any seats or any well known figure apart from the former foreign minister.
He said the only reason given for Usno’s admission was that the party had submitted its application much earlier compared to PCS, KDM and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
However, Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs said Pandikar is a political heavyweight in his own right and was still politically relevant.
“He (Pandikar) is also on good terms with most of the state Bersatu leaders. So, there was apparently no objection from Sabah Bersatu as the major Muslim-majority GRS party.
“But all these other parties that are not yet accepted into GRS would have their detractors or objectors in existing GRS parties.
“This is because these parties would understandably not want their political representative influence in their respective communities to be ‘diluted’ by the applicant parties,” he added.
The four-party GRS supreme council, chaired by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, unanimously accepted Usno as its fifth member on Monday, but left applications by PCS, KDM and LDP on the backburner.
Besides the Sabah chapter of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Sabah Bersatu), other parties which make up GRS are Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Sabah STAR) and the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).
Mohammed Rahezzal, who is a Sabah UiTM political science lecturer, did not rule out the possibility that Usno was a standby vehicle to be taken over by leaders from Sabah Bersatu.
“Another plausible reason why Usno was admitted is that it might provide a platform for Sabah Bersatu leaders should they decide to leave the party but still want to remain as GRS members.
“It’s quite evident from the Melaka and Johor state elections that things are not as rosy for Bersatu at the national level. And Sabah Bersatu leaders are aware of this,” he added.
Mohammed Rahezzal said he expected the Chinese-based LDP to eventually get into GRS to strengthen the coalition, though SAPP might not be too keen to admit a party with a similar demographic.
“That seems to be a problem for KDM as well,” he said, referring to the native-based PBS and Sabah STAR’s presence in GRS.
“PBS has an uneasy alliance with Sabah STAR.
“Having KDM will only make things more complex for GRS.
“In the end, the only thing question on everyone’s mind when accepting any party into GRS is, ‘How will this affect my chances in getting more seats?’
“More parties mean a smaller share of the seats,” Mohammed Rahezzal added.