'Unreasonable' to turn Sabah into a 'political laboratory' in state polls - Masidi

It is unreasonable to turn Sabah into a “laboratory” to test the strength of political alliance in the upcoming 17th state election, according to a veteran politician.

Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah deputy president Masidi Manjun said the move is an indirect insult to Sabahans who will then be turned into “lab rats” in the experiment.

“In a situation where all parties are gearing up to face the polls, various comments were made, and one which I saw and felt hurt by, when there’s a leader who said the state polls will be a ‘laboratory’ (to test the strength of cooperation).

“That means we (in Sabah) are nothing more than political tools, as if we’re not important and just used for experiments in a political laboratory,” said Masidi as quoted by Berita Harian in Kota Kinabalu today.

The Sabah state finance minister warned that any such move would ultimately result in losses for Sabahans.

Masidi, a five-term Karanaan assemblyperson, recalled how Sabah had in the 1990s been subjected to a similar “political experiment” through a system that allowed a chief minister to only serve for two years.

“I didn’t think that (experiment) achieved its desired results. The two-year period was too short for a chief minister to implement anything,” he said.

Testing alliances

Previously, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi reportedly said the 17th Sabah state election, which must be called next year, will be a “laboratory” to test the strength of the cooperation between BN and Harapan.

The BN chairperson said the Sabah state election is key to evaluating the cooperation towards future elections.

Masidi, who is also Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) secretary-general, reportedly said his coalition and BN should decide on any parameters for cooperation in the state election.

“This is my personal view but I feel many GRS leaders share the same sentiment.

“We are not criticising, we are not anti-KL, but we just want Sabahans to be given our due respect,” he said, according to Berita Harian.

Earlier this month, Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor, who is also GRS chairperson, said the coalition has a year to prepare for the state polls before the state legislative assembly is dissolved.

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