s expected, the Sabah state hand, Barisan parties won 3 equally, if not even more parochial, elections was a keenly con­ Chinese-majority scats and 20 Mus­ by harping on ethnic rights and other A tested affair. Comp~d to its lim bumiputera m:~jority seats. issues. For instance, the deputy perfonnance in 1990 when it won 36 Consequently, it m:~y be Prime Minister and other UMNO scats, the PBS pcrfonned poorly. It deduced that while the PBS did espe­ leaders, as revealed in the numerous ended up with 25 seats while the cially well in non-Muslim tdccasts of their campaign speeches, Barisan Nasional (BN) won 23 seats. bumiputera areas, nonetheless, it never failed to mention the need for Apart from UMNO Baru 's 18 scats, also gained a majority of Chinese Muslims to unite behind UMNO in the newly-fonned Sabah Progres­ support. and some Muslim order to protect their rights. There sive Pnrty won 3 seats, the Liberal bumiputcra support. Its spread of were also numerous allegations of Democratic Party (LOP) one, and support was certainly more multi­ Muslims.bcing discriminated by the Akarone. ethnic than that of the Barisan 's PBS government which failed to make any The same appeal along ethnic POORER breakthrough in Kadazan-Dusun lines underlined the campaigns of and Murut areas. This is the first the Chinese-based Barisan com­ PERFORMANCE BUT important observ:.llion of the recent ponent parties. SAPP's accusation STILLMULTI-ETIINIC polls. SUPPORT PAROCHIALISM The electoral results reveal that The PBS has been the PBS gained some49.5 percent of condemned for advocat­ the votes C3St (comp.ved to some ing "parochial" senti 53.9 percent in 1990) while the BN ments through its usc of parties polled some 46 percent. The the slogan "Sabah for remaining votes went to candidates Sabah:ms" and its representing smaller parties or those general "anti-federal" contesting independently. stance as in likening Of the 25 seats gained by PBS, UMNO Baru to an out­ 14 are non-Muslim bumiputera side "colonial" interest. m:ljority constituencies, 4 Chinese­ The Infonnation Mini­ m:~jority constituencies, 2 "mixed" ster further accused it of constituencies and 5 Muslim promoting "the politics bumiputcra majority constituencies. of hatred". Except for Datuk Amir Kahar, eight However, the in- other Conner USNO leaders lost, in dividual component UMNO Baru Sabah information chief Karim Ghani:Muslim Bumiputera participation in the some cases narrowly. On the other pm1ies of the BN were electoral process increased. UMNO supporters going home lo vole: Money and machine were efficienlly employed by UMNO throughout the campaign. Alirtm Mo111/Jiy /994:14 (2) Page J that the Chinese were neglected and certainly a reason for its success. But mainstcam media. and have access stood to lose even more under PBS the "3Ms" - media, money and to large amount~ of funds that allow • rule is a case in point Previously machine - were also crucial. The them to finance extensive party forced to eschew ethnic politics blatant use of the govenunent-con­ machines, and intensive electoral when they were in the PBS because trolled and BN-owned mainstream campaigns readily. of its multi-ethnic set-up, SAPP media for propaganda pwposes is The involvement of such party leaders like Yong Teck Lee and discussed in an accompanying story machines like UMNO Baru's, and Tham Nyip Shen unabashedly cam­ by Mustafa K Anuar. The focus here their huge spendings in the recent paigned along ethnic lines like their is on the latter two. elections were unprecedented in new UMNO Baru partners. Some of "Money politics" does not. as a Saba.h politics. Although the PBS the pamphlets SAPP distributed in recent article in the NST (26 Feb boasts of the best party machine in the Kota Kinabalu area were blatant­ 1994) suggests. simply refer to the the state, and the party and particular ly racist. actual distribution of money to buy PBS politicians also expended large Such campaigning along ethnic votes and support during elections. amounts of funds. nonetheless, they lines is commonplace in peninsular That is too narrow and literal an un­ were no match for their peninsula Malaysia. But it should not be for­ derstanding of the phenomenon. counterparts. A salient point is how, gotten that it appeals to one of the Money politics is more. ln essence, according to the UMNO Saba.h in­ formation chief Karim Ghani, the party was respon­ sible for facilitating the registration of some 100,000 addi­ tional voters be­ tween the 1990 and 1994 elections, thereby resulting in an increase in the number of Muslim bumiputera majority constituencies. But money and machine also en­ sured that the BN won the poster war Yong Tec:k LM'a campaign was unabashedly along ethnic lines. throughout the state except in PBS stron­ basest of instincts. It is divisive of it refers to the involvement of politi­ gholds; that its party workers, in­ peoples, as the PBS has cal parties and politicians (especially cluding hundreds from the peninsula counterncted. those in power) in corpor.rte busi­ (involved in the anak angkat Indeed, while the PBS may stand ness activities. Inevitably, this leads scheme whereby different UMNO accused of fanning parochialism by to a bluning of the divide between Baru state liaison committees calling for a "Sabah for Saba.hans". public funds and interests on the one adopted particular Saba.h constituen­ to its credit it did not campaign along hand, and party and or personal cies) were utilised efficiently and ethnic lines. The Prime Minister's funds and interests on the other. Cor­ adequately provided for; that its accusation on the last day of cam­ ruption and cronyism often follow. sympathisers were fed at ccramahs paigning that the PBS was conduct­ At any rate, money politics and tr.msported back to their ing an ethnic-based campaign was usually results in companies set up hometowns for voting purposes; that completely misplaced, if not untrue. by politicians and political parties adequate buses. taxis, 4-whcel (via their proxies) having access to drives, boats and helicopters were UMNO BARU AND THE government loans, contracts, critical booked and paid for at hiked-up "3Ms" information, licenses, monopolies, rates; that background information The remarkable electoral perfor­ etc. As a consequence of money on particular selllements and vil­ mance of UMNO Baru in its first politics in Malaysia, UMNO Baru lages were available, their residents showing in Saba.h requires comment and the other BN parties (via their contacted, their sympathies too. Its resort to ethnic politics was proxies) have gained control of the monitored by the day, and all such A/iran Monthlv 1994:14 (2) Pa!!e 4 basis of this sentiment, not merely wish it away, even less paint it as anti-federal. This is so especially since the 1994 Saball elections are now over and the people's mandate, however slim, has been given to the PBS. It is completely understandable why Barisan leaders remain distrust­ ful of Pa.irin IGtingan and the PBS leaders after that "stab in the back" incident when PBS withdrew from the BN on the eve of the 1990 geneml elections. Not SW]>risingly, the Prime Minister announced on the eve of the 1994 polls, and immedi­ ately after the election results as well, that no coalition government would be formed with the PBS. However, the newly re-elected Sabah Chief Minister's offer to meet Premier Dr Mahathir as soon as pos­ sible in order to patch up federal­ · ~ state ties has been met with a rebuff Tun Mustapha: Sabah for Sabahans. too. The MCA leader has further remarked that "PBS must show its information put into the computer so parison very limited, they could not sincerity flfSt". But swdy a distinc­ as to be easily accessed; and so on. match the BN in this game. tion needs to be made between the There is yet another dimension to duly-elected PBS state money and machine politics. Ac­ SABAH STATE RIGHTS government's wish to maintain cor­ cess to federnl development funds AND FEDERAL-STATE dial ties with the Barisan fedeml allowed UMNO Baru and the RELATIONS government, from the PBS' wish to Barisan leaders to promise as well as It appears, therefore, that the join the BN (which is not the case in hand out on the spot. monies for a multi-ethnic support for the PBS is this instance). Put another way, there myriad of purposes: RM 30 million primarily a result of its championing is a need for BN leaders in Kuala for Chinese sch.ools in Sabah; RM of Sabah's rights and interests. Al­ Lumpur in particular to distinguish 5.6 million for supply of electricity though such a stance has been. between government-to-govern­ in 30 rural areas; a university; a free viewed negatively by the BN leaders ment relations from party-to-party trade wne; grants for coopemtives, and projected as anti-feder..tl, it relations. etc. Ultimately, they offered a remains a popular sentiment. Al­ "Sabah Baru" whicli they promised though PBS' campaigns in this and DISCRIMINATING would usher in economic develop­ previous elections have given a fillip AGAINST SABAHANS? ment and wealth for all. This is also to this sentiment, it is not new. Pre­ In this regard, it is noteworthy money politics. And visiting federal vious Chief Ministers like Tun Fuad that, since 1991 , development al­ ministers, mentris bcsar, chief mini­ Stephens and Tun Mustapha and locations as provided under the Sixth sters and other BN leaders utilised their governments have expressed Malaysia Plan have not been chan­ the facilities of federnl departments similar concerns as those of the nelled by Kuala Lumpur to the and agencies even though they were PBS'.