Several Sabah political parties are still continuing the public debate on the minor cabinet reshuffle two days ago which included the appointment of a new deputy chief minister.

Sabah Peoples Progressive Party (Sapp), for one, is convinced that there’s more to it than meets the eye in the cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday.

goddess of mercy 230409 photo file According to the opposition party, the appointment of two LDP state assemblypersons to the state cabinet may be a sop to former party chief and ex-Sabah chief minister Chong Kah Kiat over the proposed construction of the controversial Mazu statue in Kudat.

“We hope Peter (Pang) and (Pang) Yuk Min’s promotions are not a compromise for the halted Chong’s Mazu project,” said Sapp information chief Chong Pit Fah to the local media.

Chong was referring to LDP vice-president Peter Pang’s appointment as deputy chief minister. LDP’s Merotai state assemblyperson Yuk Ming was also appointed as assistant infrastructure development minister.

However, Peter Pang, despite being DCM, holds a relatively junior post as youth and sports minister.

“The promotions can also been seen as a bid to weather the storm surrounding the approval for another Mazu (Goddess of the Sea) statue and temple to be built in Kudat by the Hainan Federation of Sabah and Labuan.”

Kah Kiat is currently embroiled in a legal dispute with the state government after the building of a Mazu statue he undertook in Kudat had to be aborted allegedly under directives from the chief minister.

parliament stimulas package najib 041108 pc 02 He is open to an “out-of-court settlement” offer made by newly-appointed Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak during his maiden Sabah visit recently and has sought a meeting with the latter in Putrajaya.

At the same time, the Hainan Federation has managed to win state government approval for the building of a Mazu statue as well as a temple in Kudat.

Three Chinese state ministers and an assistant minister, all non-Hainanese and apparently non-Taoists, have agreed to help the state government oversee the building of the Mazu temple and second statue.

Kah Kiat has already clarified that there is no link between his project - which has no temple - and that proposed by the Hainan Federation, but has welcomed the latter’s initiative.

The Sapp information chief had earlier raised the possibility of the DCM post going to Dr Yee Moh Chai, who is resource development and technology minister.

However, Yee’s party, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), already holds a DCM post through his boss, Joseph Pairin Kitingan.

Yee came into the DCM picture, according to Sapp’s Chong, because he had been intensively lobbying for the post.

He noted that Yee had been issuing numerous public statements on Chinese community issues to endear himself to the chief minister and getting the Mazu temple and second Mazu statue project approved in record time.

However, on the eve of the reshuffle, Sapp was confidently predicting that newly-appointed Sabah Gerakan vice-chairman Raymond Tan would hang on to the deputy chief minister’s post “unless something seriously goes wrong between him and the chief minister”.

The party now explains that Tan was not retained in the DCM post because Gerakan is a Peninsular Malaysia-based political party, did not contest any seat in the state.

Such comments have not gone down well in particular with MCA and Umno leaders and members in Sabah who see their local chapters as entirely independent of their mother parties in Peninsular Malaysia.

“The fact of the matter is that although these are Semenanjung-based parties, the members are Sabahans,” said State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun, a Dusun Muslim from Umno.

LDP is biggest winner

LDP, despite being taken aback by the two appointments won by the party, understands that the chief minister had few options before he exercised his prerogative powers.

In looking around for a Chinese state assemblyperson away from the Gerakan, he could only settle on the LDP.

musa aman pc in sabah 190608 01 “Chief Minister Musa Aman ( right ) can’t be giving the DCM post to a Peninsular Malaysia-based party. That will prolong the controversy. He can’t give it to PBS either because it already has a DCM post.

“That leaves only Peter because the two other local parties, Upko and PBRS, don’t have a Chinese state assemblyperson,” conceded LDP publicity chief Albert Kok.

“Many people were thinking that the chief minister would be annoyed with LDP for demanding that Tan quit the DCM post.”

Upko Youth chief Masiung Banah sees the LDP as the biggest gainer in the recent state cabinet reshuffle.

“LDP still managed to get two posts in the state cabinet including a DCM post despite making numerous statements against the chief minister,” pointed out Banah. “In a way this is a plus point for the chief minister. He did not mix personal views with political decisions.”

Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) leaders are unhappy that BN’s 5-3-2 (Muslim bumiputera - non-Muslim bumiputera - non-bumiputera) formula for representation in the state cabinet was not adhered to in the latest reshuffle.

“We hope that the situation will be corrected in the near future,” said PBRS information chief Rayner Francis Udong. “We understand that our chief minister’s hands are tied in the current ministerial situation.

Udong was referring to the fact that there were now three non-bumiputera ministers, all Chinese, in the state cabinet as against the two under the formula. The trio is Tan from Gerakan, Yee from PBS and Peter Pang from LDP.

Many see the public stand taken by PBRS as a cue that Tan’s ministerial post should be taken away and given to a Dusun state assemblyperson. Yee’s post could have been given to a Dusun if not for the fact that PBS has a large non-native membership.

Sabah MCA, which had hoped to win the DCM post previously held by Tan and in fact won the public backing of LDP in the issue, wants to put the past behind.

“The issue of who should be DCM has now been settled. So, it’s is now time to focus on the priorities of the state and the rakyat,” said Sabah MCA deputy chairman Paul Kong.

“Everyone must put their personal interests aside as well as pool all their resources together and stand behind the state government.”