Sabah polls: DCM's loyalty puts anti-hopping loophole back in spotlight

Summary

• Sabah CM Hajiji Noor indicates that DCM III Shahelmey Yahaya may contest under GRS in the upcoming state election.

• Such a move would test anti-hopping laws, as Shahelmey is also an Umno MP.

As the Sabah election draws closer, a top lawmaker in the state’s split allegiance between BN and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) raises major questions about the efficacy of the country’s anti-hopping law.

Deputy Chief Minister III Shahelmey Yahaya had won both the Putatan parliamentary seat and the Tanjung Keramat state seat on a BN ticket.

However, he is suspended from Umno for choosing to side with Chief Minister Hajiji Noor instead of Sabah BN chief Bung Moktar Radin in a power struggle in early 2023.

Then on Sunday, Hajiji signalled that Shahelmey (above) will contest on a GRS ticket in the upcoming state election.

Speaking in Putatan on Sunday, the chief minister remarked that Shahelmey would “ikut siurang (follow us)” when asked about the deputy chief minister’s future.

Under the current election system, Shahelmey need not join GRS to contest under its logo in an election.

There is precedent for this, such as when the entire Pakatan Harapan used the PKR logo in the 2018 general election.

This will be the most likely route for Shahelmey to choose if he wants to remain as both Putatan MP and a part of Hajiji’s team without a contest.

Stripped membership

Contesting under another party’s banner without permission from one’s own party is usually a disciplinary offence that leads to membership being stripped.

However, under the anti-hopping law, a lawmaker who is fired from their party retains their seat.

Multiple parties including Umno and Bersatu have since included a party rule where rebels who disobey the party are considered to have “resigned” their membership instead of being sacked.

But, Dewan Rakyat speaker Johari Abdul had set a precedent in the case of six Bersatu MPs who chose to back Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, that the anti-hopping law is not triggered in such circumstances.

If this remains the case should Shahelmey contest under GRS in the Sabah polls, then the anti-hopping loophole where lawmakers can choose to rebel until they are sacked, remains in place.

A case can be made that Shahelmey contesting under GRS is different from switching support for a prime minister, and is a more blatant form of party hopping.

If Johari decides as such and disqualifies the Putatan MP, then a by-election must be held for the Parliament seat.

Such a decision is likely to only come after nomination day for the Sabah state election - to confirm Shahelmey’s allegiance - meaning that a potential by-election in Putatan will be done further down the line.

‘Still with Umno’

When pressed on the matter on Sunday, Shahelmey stopped short of denying the Hajiji’s claim that he will contest under GRS, while stressing that he is still with Umno.

“I took the CM’s remark as encouraging, since I have been supporting the present GRS–Harapan Plus Sabah government all this while,” he said.

He also suggested Hajiji may have been joking with reporters when making the “siurang” remark, adding, “that was why we were laughing after he said it.”

BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said in May that Shahelmey remains suspended and that the Sabah BN leadership will be making the decisions on who to field in the Sabah state election.

Bung has named Putatan Umno division chief Jeffrey Nor Mohamed as the party’s candidate to replace Shahelmey in Tanjung Keramat.

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