By now, Malaysians are perhaps not surprised as to what can happen within the realms of Sabah politics. As the saying goes, 'anything can happen in politics'.

But the latest, and what some have described to be the most bizarre episode, which occurred before the swearing in of Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) Chong Kah Kiat as the state's 12th chief minister, surely must have beaten it all.

Unlike in the mid-1980s, when the then United Sabah National Organisation (Usno) leader Tun Mustapha Harun tried to seize power and appoint himself as chief minister despite Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) winning by a simple majority, this time around an attempt came from within the state's Barisan Nasional itself.

The man behind it was Sabah Umno leader Osu Sukam who was asked to step down by the Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad after holding the chief minister's position for more than two years. This was to pave the way for Chong, the leader of a mosquito party with only two elected members in the state assembly.

Sabah Umno, which is the successor to the now-defunct Usno, has 29 assemblymen and is the largest single party in the Sabah BN and the state today. This was the ammunition used by the party in fighting for the abolition of the rotational system.

Under this system each of the three major communities in Sabah would occupy the post of chief ministership by turn, for a two-year period.

Dr M unpredictable

However Osu's problems stemmed from the different cliques within Sabah Umno itself. While the state's Umno leaders and members were all out for the abolition of the rotational system, many could not agree to Osu remaining as chief minister.

"Major senior Sabah Umno leaders such as Salleh Keruak and Ghapur Salleh do not see eye to eye with Osu," explained a senior Sabah politician.

A few hours prior to Dr Mahathir's decision, a Sabah Umno delegation led by the former chief minister himself had a breakfast meeting with the prime minister at his official residence in Putrajaya.

"The impression that Osu and many other Sabah Umno leaders had then was that Dr Mahathir would be favourable to Umno retaining the post," said a senior Kuala Lumpur journalist with close links to Osu.

"Needless to say, he (Osu) was completely devastated and described Dr Mahathir as highly unpredictable," he added.

Plot thickens

Despite of all the smiles and the show of unity among Sabah BN leaders, the general mood among Osu and his supporters was one of despondency which eventually turned to silent anger. This led to numerous secret meetings in Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu.

The first ominous sign of trouble connected with the planned swearing-in of the new chief minister surfaced last week when three bumiputra businessmen known to have close ties with Osu, embarked on a legal action to try and stop the swearing-in ceremony.

And when the Kota Kinabalu High Court presided by the highly-respected Sabah-born judge Richard Malunjum refused to grant the interim injunction, Osu and his men had to think of something else.

Although Monday was a public holiday, there was a hive of political activity in various parts of Kota Kinabalu.

While officials were busy preparing for the swearing-in ceremony for the next day and the chief minister-designate was talking to leaders of various component parties about finalising the new cabinet line-up, Osu's men were plotting.

But in a small town secrets don't stay as secrets for long and sources said that word got around about a group of assemblymen who were being assembled in one of the five-star hotels in downtown Kota Kinabalu to garner support for Osu.

Chong was among the first to get wind of the strange goings-on and he alerted the prime minister immediately. At the same time, Sabah BN leaders rallied all their assemblymen together in another five-star hotel.

Hot soup

Also on Monday, Osu has apparently went to see PBS president Joseph Pairin Kitingan with a list of Umno assemblymen he claimed were supporting him as chief minister and asked PBS Yang Berhormats for their support.

According to sources, Pairin said no, recalling what had happened to him in 1985 when Osu's political master, the late Tun Mustapha, tried to seize power even after his party had lost the elections to PBS.

In a desperate attempt to block the swearing-in at the last minute, sources said, Osu himself informed the head of state about an anti-Chong group which he claimed had the support of some 30 assemblymen and in view of that, Chong's swearing-in on Tuesday morning should not proceed.

"An attempt was clearly made for the head of state to stop the swearing-in. Some 30 assemblymen, including from PBS, were initially asked to gather at a hotel to show support for the group planning the coup," said the sources.

"But this attempt fizzled out after another group dissuaded the Yang Berhormats from doing it as it would be a high-risk venture and so they pledged their support for Chong instead."

The sources explained that Osu had not yet resigned and was apparently instructed to do so or risk being sacked. When Chong telephoned Dr Mahathir to inform him about the episode, Osu landed himself in hot soup.

What was amazing was that Osu acted as if nothing had happened. He attended the swearing-in ceremony and took part in the handing over of duty as well. Chong and his rival were all smiles for photographers that evening. The former declined to comment when reporters questioned him about the 'plot'.

Former post

Why did Osu embark on such an attempt and even encourage his supporters to try and go against the decision made by Dr Mahathir and Barisan Nasional?

As one senior Sabah journalist put it, "When you are up there it is difficult to come down."

"If not for this, Osu would still have a future as he could return to his former cabinet post in Kuala Lumpur, now occupied by Kasitah Gaddam, who is finishing his term as senator," another journalist pointed out.

According to observers, Salleh Keruak, who had once served as the state's chief minister before, is tipped to be the most likely candidate from Sabah Umno to take over when Chong's term ends in 2003 under the new 2:1:1 power sharing formula.

Under the formula, Muslim bumiputra serves two terms while the Chinese community and non-Muslim bumiputra, serve one term each provided Sabah Umno remains the dominant political party.

TONY THIEN is a freelance writer based in Kuching.