Sabah DAP has called upon former chief minister Chong Kah Kiat, who is currently on the warpath against his successor Musa Aman, to ‘seriously consider’ leaving Barisan Nasional (BN).

This would convince the Chinese in Sabah even more of his call for them to reject the Chinese candidates standing under the BN banner, said DAP Kota Kinabalu chairperson Dr Hiew King Hew.

chong kah kiat Chong has accused Chinese BN leaders of trading the ‘interest and dignity’ of the Chinese community.

The former Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) chairperson - who resigned last year from Musa’s cabinet over differences on the handling of the ‘goddess of the seas’ statue project in Kudat - made the remarks at the recent Kudat Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s executive committee meeting.

Chong was not immediately available for comment in response to the call made by DAP, but observers said the former is unlikely to quit BN because he considers the issue to be more of a community matter than a political one.

‘Goddess of the seas’

At the meeting, Chong had urged Chinese voters to use their votes to punish the Chinese BN candidates who let them down.

This was an obvious reference to the Chinese leaders who had supported Musa’s stand in issuing a directive to the Kudat Town Council to cancel the approval given to a Chinese temple foundation headed by Chong to build the RM5 million Matzu statue.

That decision is said to have infuriated not only Chong and the temple committee but also many members of the Chinese community in the state.

Chong, as head of the temple foundation, also sued Musa in his capacity as chief minister for allegedly abusing his powers and infringing on his (Chong’s) constitutional rights as guaranteed by the Federal Constitution on religion.

Musa had described the suit as the action of a ‘bitter man’, prompted by ‘malice and spite’.

The chief minister cancelled the approval after the local Umno women branch objected on the grounds of the project’s close proximity to a mosque and following a ruling or fatwa by the state religious body.

Observers have noted that this issue could have an impact as far as Chinese votes are concerned in the coming polls.

Close battles

Meanwhile, DAP’s Hiew said Chong’s stance to ‘punish the Chinese BN candidates’ should also encompass those individuals allegedly responsible for giving land at Kolombong to a private firm although originally allocated for the construction of a school building, those who encouraged gaming activities and those responsible for the reduction in state grants to Chinese schools and religious bodies.

Sabah has 25 parliamentary seats and 60 state seats which will be contested in the coming polls.

While nearly all observers agree that BN will return to power, they however predict that opposition parties, namely DAP and PKR, will make inroads.

As for PKR, the party’s rallying point for Kadazandusun areas, is the maverick Jeffrey Kitingan. He is expected to hit the campaign trail on a wheelchair after being involved in a road accident recently.

There has been talk that his brother Pairin, who heads Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) and is the state assemblyperson for Tambunan, cannot be 100 percent sure of winning, according to several observers.

Jeffrey is unlikely to take on his brother but is said to be interested in taking on BN Kadazan leader Joseph Kurup in Sook. He lost narrowly to Kurup in the last elections.

There is expected to be close duels in many Chinese majority seats, especially in Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau.