BN big guns head for Sabah

sun2surf - Several Barisan Nasional (BN) top guns, including Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, are in Sabah to pre-empt a domino effect in case a component party quits the coalition as rumoured.

Word that three, and not just one, as hinted by Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, BN component parties from the state may abandon ship have the BN leaders making a beeline for the Land Below the Wind to prevent a shift in political landscape.

According to a report in Oriental Daily News today, aside from the Datuk Yong Teck Lee-led Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), speculation is rife that Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), which is headed by Kadazandusun paramount leader Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitinggan, and Tan Sri Bernard Dompok's Upko (United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation) may also leave the coalition.

Upko has four MPs, whereas PBS and SAPP have three and two MPs respectively.

BN controls all 25 parliamentary seats in the state except Kota Kinabalu which went to DAP in the March 8 general election.

If the three parties indeed leave the coalition but opt not to join the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR), BN will still have 131 MPs (49 more than PR's) and not under any threat of being toppled, but such a development will serve to boost the Opposition's morale at the crucial time and allow PR to up the ante against BN.

A Sabah Umno man told the daily that Sabahans know the rules of the game well as far as party-hopping is concern.

"(In Sabah) You've to try your best to be both the 'peg' and the 'hole' and you don't rule out any possibility."... selanjutnya.