Backing for Sabah Umno membership plan

Key non-Muslim bumiputera leaders in Sabah think that Umno could shed its ‘racial’ identity by wooing more members of the KadazanDusunMurut (KDM) community.

In relation to this, they have backed a proposal made on Monday by Penampang Umno chief John Ambrose to set up a KDM task force to beef up non-Muslim bumiputera membership in Umno.

According to Ambrose - the only non-Muslim division head in Sabah Umno - the proposal has received the blessings of Umno president and premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Najib Abdul Razak.

There has been no reaction so far from other KDM-based parties in Barisan Nasional or from opposition PKR, led by Jeffrey Gimpoi Kitingan (left) .

Sabah Progressive Party, which had quit the BN on Sept 17 citing a host of unresolved grievances and expressing no confidence in the federal leadership, is also eyeing more KDM members.

It has laid out plans to capture at least 30 state seats - and no fewer than 20 in the event of a snap dissolution of the state assembly - in the next general election.

“I fully support the proposed task force and the party can count on Umno Kota Marudu to lure more members from the Rungus community,” said Jelani Hamdan, president of the Sabah Rungus Momogun Association.

‘In fact, a task force has been in existence since the 1990s, and both Ambrose and I are members. However, it has not been active. So, Ambrose has proposed to form the task force again,” he added.

Ranau Umno chief Masidi Manjun pointed out that “Umno has to be fair to all, irrespective of race, to attract non-Muslim bumiputeras to the party”.

“I agree with Ambrose. But what matters is that people perceive you to be fair to all races. When that happens, they will give support despite being non-members.”

Masidi, a Muslim from the Dusun community, is also the state tourism, culture and environment minister.

“Let’s not pretend that racial politics is not here...It’s still strong, only it is less evident in Sabah and Sarawak which have managed to minimise race and religion in politics,” he explained.

He said about a third of the Umno members in Ranau are Christians from the Dusun community, which is “a reflection of political maturity among Sabahans”.

Premature end

Ambrose had mentioned the proposal when opening the Penampang division meeting.

“Umno is open to all races as the party fights for the rights of bumiputeras in the state. If Umno is just fighting for the rights of one community, what would happen to the others?” he asked.

He disclosed that Najib, whom he had met on Oct 5, would launch the task force in Pensiangan, which is already in the news following an Election Court ruling late last month to declare the parliamentary seat vacant. The decision is being appealed.

Sabah Umno’s first go at the task force ended prematurely when Jeffrey’s branch membership was revoked within days by then Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

It was informed that Jeffrey was among KDM leaders who would “need approval from the HQ in Kuala Lumpur” first. This left a bitter taste within the KDM circle, as its leaders had been initially keen to get into Umno for greater bumiputera unity.

Aside from Pensiangan 24 other Umno divisions - Tenom, Papar, Keningau, Kota Belud, Kota Marudu, Kudat and Penampang for example - are said to have a high level of participation from the KDM community.

None of the divisions have a KDM majority, however, leaving the community with the concern that their presence would just make up the numbers.

Sabah Umno mainly comprises Muslims from various communities - Bajau, Suluk, Brunei Malay, Cocos-Keeling Malays, Indians, Irranun, Filipinos, Bugis and Timorese - and some KDM Muslims from among the Bisaya, the Dusun of Ranau and the Orang Sungei of Kinabatangan.

There is also a sprinkling of Chinese who entered Sabah Umno when the Dusun-based Angkatan Keadilan Rakyat was dissolved by its leader Pandikar Amin Mulia with its members - minus Jeffrey - were allowed en bloc admission.