So, we're gonna see polls in Sabah within 60 days. This will be very interesting. Sabah politics (and indeed, East Malaysian politics) is a bit different from Peninsula politics. The dynamics are a little bit different and over there, warlords seem to have a disproportionate influence over the electorate. Nevertheless, one dynamic at play is exactly the same as in the Peninsula: We are looking at a backdoor government attempt.
In the Peninsula, the perpetrators managed to pull it off, thanks in no small part to Dr M abruptly resigning in a miscalculated attempt to consolidate his power. Perhaps learning from Dr M's mistake, Shafie did the right thing and asked for a dissolution rather than simply allowing his opponents to take over by way of statutory declarations or some other means of proving they have the numbers.
The constitution allows him to do this and he did it. Now, it is up to the voters to decide their own future. Do they want to go with the Harapan-friendly side or the Perikatan-friendly side?
One thing is for sure though, the voters know who the frogs are. These are the people who betrayed the electorate's choice in GE14. I don't think voters like that and I think many, if not most, of the frogs will be punished by the electorate.
The other problem, the Perikatan-friendly side has is that Bersatu and UMNO are already at loggerheads about seat allocation. I've said many times, this is a problem that Perikatan component parties will struggle with. Over at the Peninsula side, this problem will be even more challenging with PAS in the mix. All three core parties — Bersatu, UMNO, PAS — are going after the same demographic. None will give an inch. All will want to claim as many seats as possible.
So, in a nutshell, there are two core problems Perikatan faces:
a) Voters will know who the frogs are and they will punish them
b) The Perikatan side won't be able to resolve the seat allocation problem
Haparan has its own set of problems but it doesn't have those two issues above. That fact alone gives it an upper hand against Perikatan in GE15.
In the Peninsula, the perpetrators managed to pull it off, thanks in no small part to Dr M abruptly resigning in a miscalculated attempt to consolidate his power. Perhaps learning from Dr M's mistake, Shafie did the right thing and asked for a dissolution rather than simply allowing his opponents to take over by way of statutory declarations or some other means of proving they have the numbers.
The constitution allows him to do this and he did it. Now, it is up to the voters to decide their own future. Do they want to go with the Harapan-friendly side or the Perikatan-friendly side?
One thing is for sure though, the voters know who the frogs are. These are the people who betrayed the electorate's choice in GE14. I don't think voters like that and I think many, if not most, of the frogs will be punished by the electorate.
The other problem, the Perikatan-friendly side has is that Bersatu and UMNO are already at loggerheads about seat allocation. I've said many times, this is a problem that Perikatan component parties will struggle with. Over at the Peninsula side, this problem will be even more challenging with PAS in the mix. All three core parties — Bersatu, UMNO, PAS — are going after the same demographic. None will give an inch. All will want to claim as many seats as possible.
So, in a nutshell, there are two core problems Perikatan faces:
a) Voters will know who the frogs are and they will punish them
b) The Perikatan side won't be able to resolve the seat allocation problem
Haparan has its own set of problems but it doesn't have those two issues above. That fact alone gives it an upper hand against Perikatan in GE15.
