COMMENT Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s statement that Najib Abdul Razak is the one and only prime minister who has brought changes to Sabah is totally misleading.

Instead, the recent political scenario with the emergence of a two-party system (BN vs Pakatan Rakyat), especially in Peninsular Malaysia, has forced this lame duck prime minister to bring changes to Sabah, in order to woo the support from the state that he described as BN’s “fixed deposit”.

Umno leaders never perceived Sabah as a priority area in the past, as they enjoyed unchallenged power, with support in the peninsula enough to keep Umno at the helm.

Sabah, in the far, far east, is too remote a region that Umno preferred to control through its proxies and stooges in the 1970s and 1980s, until then opposition PBS came up to defeat these Umno allies.

In order to wrest back the state, the prime minister then, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, introduced “chief minister rotationship”, with the electoral rolls packed with dubious, super-fast approved voters.

That was the beginning of what Rahman described as “when other leaders who are no longer the leaders, we were left with the problem of illegal immigrants”.

He must be referring to Mahathir.

Umno was the party that created the mother of all problems in Sabah - the illegal immigrants - and yet Rahman praised Najib as “the prime minister also had to face this issue and that was why the Royal Commission of Inquiry (the RCI on illegal immigrants in Sabah) was created”.

The question is, after all these years of merry-go-round investigation, inquiry, raids and actions having been taken, have we restored justice by putting those culprits to face justice? No.

Some Umno politicians forget easily. They also tend to put all the blame on the bureaucrats, their favourite scapegoat, when most of the times the bureaucrats take instructions from their political masters in Umno and BN.

Stop being a beggar in the federation

Najib might have done something for Sabah, but it is still very far from satisfying as our people continue to languish in poverty, a situation now compounded by Najib's initiative, the goods and services tax (GST).

Rahman ( right ) should reflect on the fact that although Najib initiated a peace deal in southern Philippines, we had the Sulu invasion in Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu, just a year later.

We now have a very costly East Sabah Security Command (Esscom) to look after our security issue along the coastal area. However, just last week we heard reports of armed men seen again, in the Kinabatangan area, and that a robbery took place in Bait Island, off Semporna.

If not for Umno/BN losing the two-thirds majority in Parliament in 2008, and the further decline in support popular vote to just 47 percent in 2013, Rahman himself would not have been appointed a federal minister with a portfolio traditionally held by MCA.

New political landscape has provided a window of opportunity for Sabah BN leaders, and they should exploit fully the opportunity to bargain for institutional reforms that benefit the rakyat.

They should not just be defenders of an embattled party president who is now desperate for support.

A true, concerned and committed Sabahan leader should fight for institutional reforms, such as fiscal decentralisation, instead of apple-polishing a particular political leader who is trying to be the nice guy to Sabah.

Blind loyalty to Putrajaya will only make Sabah a beggar in the federation.

Sabahans should understand the “game of thrones” of Umno.

Our leaders should understand that it is the obligation of every prime minister to develop Sabah, as anything good done for Sabah is also good for the entire country.

CHAN FOONG HIN is Sabah DAP vice-chairperson and Sri Tanjong assemblyperson.

Related stories

Mat Sabu: Yes, PM needn't quit, just dissolve House

Tajuddin: We back PM, but he must fix 1MDB

Thorns revealed in Najib's rosy picture

Who’s the bigger clown - Rafizi or Dr M?

PMO denies cabinet reshuffle on the cards

Hadi backs Najib to stay on as PM

PM's aide: Has Rosmah chaired cabinet meeting?

Nothing will come out of 1MDB audit, as usual

A whole lot of boogie-woogie in Umno

Round 2: A desperate Najib fights back

'Big issues submerged in Umno feud'

Teo: PSD cuts should target FLOM dept

Knife fight? Watch out for the doctor with a gun