Commentary: Sabah state election ignites fresh Game of Thrones jostling in Malaysian politics

After all, we would do well to remember Shafie certainly did not go out of his way to call for the state polls, especially not during this COVID-19 pandemic in Sabah.

Then again, most of Musa’s previous state UMNO faction supporters, including his own parliamentarian son Yemeni Aman, are now in Bersatu. But it’s 2020 and the dynamics between the fresh Sabah opposition coalition is awkward to say the least, if only because of the brewing rivalry between UMNO and Bersatu.THE POWER STRUGGLE WITHIN THE FEDERAL RULING COALITION

This internecine power struggle between the two major component parties of the federal ruling coalition filters down to Sabah. UMNO and Bersatu were ready to go at each other’s throats in many state constituencies, diffused only by the last minute mediation of Muhyiddin, who hastily cobbled the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional and the Bersatu-led Perikatan Nasional into a Gabungan Rakyat Sabah .

Muhyiddin would ideally like to see a huge GRS win in Sabah, but with his Bersatu significantly outperforming UMNO. This would help solidify his federal leadership position. In UMNO’s calculation, its close collaboration with the Islamist PAS party will enable it to scoop up even more seats than it currently has after the 2018 general election.At first glance, Shafie’s Warisan Plus coalition appears to thrive on his relentless “Unite We Must” message, riding on a wave of popular disgust both at the recent crossing over of the assemblypersons as well as, more generally, at BN’s longstanding divide-and-rule, racially charged tactics in multicultural Sabah.

This intramural discord at the national level has trickled down to Sabah. Although PKR only won two seats in the last Sabah state election, it initially wanted to field more than 25 candidates, even at the cost of multi-cornered fights with its coalition partner Warisan.

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