‘Sabah is not for experiments’: Masidi urges respect, rejects ‘lab rat’ treatment as seat negotiations loom in unity govt

KOTA KINABALU, Nov 9 — Sabah is not a place for political experiments, said Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) deputy president Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun.

Referring to Sabah’s political history, Masidi pointed out that there have been instances where the state was a subject of political experiments.

“I quoted the two-year Chief Minister rotation, which to me is a political experiment by itself. But I don’t think it achieved the desired result. In fact we were worse off. Only two years, too short a time for a good chief minister to perform.

“Many decisions (were made) due to time constraints. I think we may have regretted some of the decisions, they may not have been good decisions because we didn’t have time to really consider the need to make the decisions.

“For example, some land transactions were made, though the intention was good. However, because of the time constraints and the eagerness to perform, later on we realized that we could have gotten a better price for that land instead of getting what we got,” he said.

Masidi said this after he officiated the joint opening of the Gagasan Rakyat Wanita, Pemuda and Beliawanis’s annual general conference at the Sabah International Conference Centre (SICC) on Saturday.

He was asked to comment on his speech to the delegates earlier when opening the conference.

Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was reported to have said that the Sabah polls next year will be a “laboratory” to test the cooperation between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and BN.

He said that the polls will be important to test the understanding between the two coalitions for the next general election, adding that the cooperation between PH and BN had been the foundation for the unity government’s formation and should be continued for the sake of political stability.

“We will translate PH and BN’s cooperation into results at the Sabah election first. After that, we will use the same formula for cooperation with other coalitions,” said Ahmad Zahid, who is also deputy prime minister, at a press conference in Kuching, Sarawak.

When asked if his comment about Sabah not being a place for political experiment was a direct reference to Ahmad Zahid’s statement, Masidi replied, “it is directed to anyone who thinks that Sabah is a place to experiment politics. Not necessarily him.

“What I’m saying is, please respect Sabahans. For all the contributions that we are making to the country, especially in terms of wealth, the oil, I think we deserve to be, not just a place to experiment with politics.

“In fact, people who think that, should actually help us instead of, well, treating us like lab rats,” he said.

“The Prime Minister has full respect for Sabahans. I’m quite disappointed that some people think that they should decide the basic rules and when negotiations start. No… at least in terms of state politics, I think the incumbents, which are GRS and PH, should be the ones who should determine the parameters of cooperation,” said Masidi who is also Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) Secretary General.

Masidi stressed that they are not anti-Kuala Lumpur but just want Sabahans to be given the proper respect.

“We don’t want more than that. Because, as I said earlier, if Sabahans feel that they are respected, they will be a proud Malaysian citizen,” he stressed.

Masidi who is tasked with chairing a committee to negotiate seat allocations among GRS components and other parties, was asked for an update on the matter to which he replied that discussions have yet to start as the consensus was that there is no need to do it immediately.

“But within GRS, we feel that it’s not too complicated to discuss. For me, in the end, the ultimate aim is to win the election. It doesn’t matter from which party the candidate is from as long as the individual is representing GRS. And that’s what matters,” he said.

When asked if PAS would be included in the discussion, Masidi said not now because the party is part of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.

Masidi pointed out that in PAS’ case in Sabah, Datuk Aliakbar Gulasan is a nominated assemblyman.

PAS has a single representative in the Sabah State Assembly when Aliakbar was appointed in 2020 by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor who was heading Sabah PN then.

Asked about the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), which is part of both PN and GRS, Masidi said the party’s leaders would eventually have to choose a side.

“However, within GRS, we believe this can be resolved amicably,” he said. — The Borneo Post