The Tamesis
December 24, 2024
KUALA LUMPUR – Everyone is waiting to see what an old name in a new position of power will do in the Land Beneath the Wind.
Tun Musa Aman's triumphant return at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport on Wednesday was one of the most talked about political moments in Sabah in 2024.
The day before, His Majesty King Sultan Ibrahim of Malaysia awarded Musa the letter of appointment during a ceremony at the National Palace. On January 1, Musa will become the 11th Head of State of Sabah, namely Tuan Yang Terutama (TYT).
Moussa's team attracted a large crowd at the airport to greet him. My political friends texted me that everyone was at the airport. The more interesting list is those who were not at the airport or the National Palace the day before the appointment letters were submitted.
They noticed that Y greeted Musa warmly. “Y pandai merendah diri untuk dapatkan sesuatu (Y is smart and good at getting things humbly),” one Umno warlord told me.
The warlord also told me that his party chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi did not attend the presidential palace but sent a representative, Kimanis MP and Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Mohamed Alamin .
“Zahid did not attend because he said he had another event,” the warlord said in response to my question whether, with the transfer of power in Sabah, Umno state president Datuk Seri Bong Moktaraddin would replaced. “The power to retain the Sabah Umno chief position lies with the president.”
Moussa's return to power has chilled some politicians, who see themselves as Moussa's eternal political enemies.
“Q said he needed to win 37 seats [out of the 73 in the state assembly] Sworn in as chief minister,” the UMNO warlord told me.
There are no prizes for guessing who will be sworn in as chief minister. Q and his leaders and supporters have been waging a hate campaign against the incoming TYT on chat groups and social media platforms.
This movement embodies their fear of Musa's shadow. The 73-year-old former Sungai Sibugah MP is Sabah’s longest-serving chief minister. He was in power from 2003 to 2018, casting a long shadow on state politics. His political opponents have experienced how Moussa crushed them politically when he was in power.
The biggest question in Sabah now is: What kind of TYT will Musa become? Will his appointment change the political dynamics of the state?
I would like to remind readers that I am in “A New Power Center in Sabah?” Column in March this year: There are three major power bases in Sabah politics: the Chief Minister’s Office, the Presidential Office (ie TYT) and the state secretary (ie civil servant). There have been many times in Sabah’s political history where the Presidential Palace has taken precedence over the office of the Chief Minister (or the incoming elected Chief Minister).
As a reporter covering Wild East politics since 1994, I've witnessed some historic power struggles. In 1994, as a rookie journalist, I watched Sabah’s then Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Peringitingan wait in his car outside the Presidential Palace in Kota Kinabalu for 36 hours. seats, while BN won 23 seats. The then TYT asked him to wait to be sworn in as Sabah chief minister, a position Palin had held since 1985.
I also covered the political drama of 2018, when Barisan Nasional, which has ruled Sabah since 1994, won 29 seats, Warisan and Pakatan Harapan also won 29 seats, and Sabah Stars won two seats. The Sabah Star, under the leadership of President Datuk Dr Jeffrey Keatingan, sided with the Barisan Nasional and at midnight, the now-retired Sabah Star, Tun Juha Mahiruddin, swore in Musa as chief minister.
In the following hours, some National Front MPs defected to support Warisan and Pakatan Harapan, which controlled the federal government led by then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Two days later, Juhar “fired” Musa as chief minister in a case that was challenged in court and appointed Warisan chairman Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal as chief minister. Moussa's legal team argued that TYT could appoint the chief minister but not fire him.
Back to the present: Different politicians have different predictions about what TYT Musa will be like.
“He will be the right TYT because he will be firm on Sabah’s rights,” a Sabah Awami League politician told me a month before Musa was announced as governor.
“Habis la Q dan V (Q and V will be done),” the Umno warlord told me.
The list of worried politicians can be quite long. The Barisan Nasional lawmaker who fled Sri Gaya (the chief minister's official residence) and switched from Musa to Shafie may be worried about what he did last summer in 2018.
One of the Enam Jahanam (roughly translated as the Six Demons) may be regretting his actions during the 2018 Sungai Sibuga elections.
“This is V for Vendetta,” one cynical politician texted me.
A senior political figure told me that Musa has mellowed out as he knows how to use his power. “He was a changed person, especially after the death of a close family member,” he told me.
“Redemption,” a Sabah-based filmmaker told me when we discussed the narrative of the upcoming “TYT.”
It was also the same word used during a heated conversation with a political analyst on whether Musa would change the political dynamics in Sabah.
“This is his chance to change the narrative. Sabahans will be watching what he does in the coming months after becoming TYT. Will he interfere? Or will he become the first to win Sabah when given a second chance at power? TYT of the human heart,” the analyst mused.
Redemption is such a powerful political narrative.
