The weeks of speculation whether Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) deputy president Chin Su Phin would be made a senator finally ended today when he was sworn in before the Dewan Negara speaker.

Despite many shortcomings and criticisms of Chin for his lacking qualifications, the implications of such an appointment have far reaching impact in Sabah politics following the recent Sabah cabinet reshuffle by the Chief Minister Musa Aman, who in a fit of anger against LDP, had excluded LDP from his cabinet line up.

The anger was compounded by the fact that Chin has been consistently criticising Musa even to the extent of asking the CM to be removed.

Throughout the conflict, the LDP's president Liew Vui Keong has never been seen to have made any serious effort to stop his deputy from criticising Musa’s administration. Liew, in fact, has used the opportunity to let his deputy do the dirty job.

It is generally known that Liew himself is not too fond of Musa, as Musa has never trusted Liew from the time he took over the LDP's presidency from Chong Kah Kiat in 2006, owing to the fact that Liew was handpicked by Chong.

Musa had not even wanted to look at Liew's recommendation for his YBs to be included in the state cabinet or other positions.

Their relationship has not improved, as it is public knowledge that Musa and Liew's predecessor Chong were at loggerheads over the construction of the Mazu statute in Kudat, although many suspect their differences go beyond the statute.

Liew was unfairly caught in the power play between the two giants Musa and Chong as soon as he took over the reins of LDP in September 2006, because one month later, Musa slapped Chong with a Stoppage Order to halt the construction of the Mazu statue.

In protest, Chong had resigned as a member of Musa's administration and commenced legal action in court against Musa for abuse of power, citing their differences. This had put Liew in a fix as he was new in the job and was not holding any government position.

The case proceeded but half way through the trial, Musa replaced his lawyers and appointed new ones who quickly applied to strike out Chong's case for want of locus standi .

The application was granted simply because Chong's foundation, Thean Houthe plaintiff in the suit, was not registered and therefore has no locus standi according to the court ruling, to file the suit against Musa. Chong's appeal was to no avail and thrown out by the federal court.

 

With that, Chong's only hope was to rely on a political solution. Liew, according to the inner circle, had brought up the case of his predecessor and pleaded to the then PM, Abdullah Badawi, and then later to Najib Razak  several times but both PM's hands are tight for reasons best known to themselves.

It was generally felt that Chong's action against Musa was high handed and he did not seek the PM's blessing in the action. He had in fact belittled and did not respect the PM when he filed the suit against the PM's Chief Minister in Sabah.

It was too much for UMNO to swallow and they did not like to see Chong's attempt to destroy Musa for his own self glory. UMNO then rallied behind Musa and Chong continued to be blinded in his crusade of wanting to get Musa out.

By March 2008, Chong's power and influence in LDP had begun to decrease when Liew led his new team to a total victory for LDP in the 12th general election. Realising that he might not be able to will his influence over Liew, Chong put his attention on Liew's deputy (Chin), who is an easy target to be cowed and coached.

Further, it is said that between themselves, they have business interests and government projects together that can last them for generations. Chong cannot afford to let go of a milking cow.

 

Liew on the other hand was a known lawyer trained from England before he took up the LDP presidency. Generally a very reserved person, and going by the press statements and speeches he has made, Liew is seen as a thoughtful person who does not speak much unless spoken to. He is not known to have any link in business with Chong or Chin. Liew had established quite a successful legal career spanning a period of two decades.

According to Najib's inner circle, Liew had met Najib several times since he took over as PM in 2009 to recommend Chin as a senator. Being a deputy minister in the JPM, Liew has no problems meeting up with the PM at any time. It was said, however, that Najib was at first not keen on Chin probably because he had been told about Chin's background.

But Liew insisted to the PM, as it was probably Liew's strategy to move Chin to KL while he made preparations to return to Sabah in the coming general election. It would be silly of Liew to want to remain in the capital city now that Chin is there, as LDP will be left with no captain in Sabah.

 

Najib's aide has said that the PM is fond of Liew as he sees Liew as a trusted asset in his administration. Najib has planned to put Liew into his cabinet as a full minister but he is in two minds, as he also wants Liew to be in Sabah together with his blue-eyed boy Shafie Apdal, who is said to be mounting a take over from Musa, with Najib's blessings.

Najib is recruiting his commander in chief, generals and armies in building up his power base. He badly needs someone whom he can trust.

It is a fact that Najib sees Musa as a liability and this is compounded by the fact that Musa was allegedly involved in money laundering in Hong Kong, where a few of Musa's right-hand men were rounded up for questioning by the corruption agency both in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Musa is also seen as  not one of Najib's men. During the several past Umno party elections, Musa had openly gone against Najib, and Najib is not a man likely to forget the episodes.

 

The appointment of Chin as senator by Najib is therefore seen as a move to please Liew as well as LDP. At the same time, it also sends a strong message to Musa that Najib is extremely unhappy over the handling of the recent state cabinet reshuffle that made a mockery of BN's power sharing principle in the state.

Some other political analysts have even gone as far as to say that Musa's days are numbered.