Jeffrey starts survey of political options

By Joe Fernandez
KOTA KINABALU: Outgoing PKR vice-president Jeffrey Kitingan, who is on two months’ leave from the party, last night initiated a survey on political options available to Sabahans.

He distributed a 10-point questionnaire after meeting more than 60 key Sabah PKR leaders at the Borneo Heritage Foundation (BHF) here. No deadline was set for the survey forms to be returned to the organizing committee, which is based at the BHF, an NGO headed by the Sabah strongman.

The final tally of survey forms to be collected is not known. It has been estimated that the Dusun alone form 8% of PKR’s estimated 400,000 members.

The questionnaire was prepared by Jeffrey’s Common Interest Group Malaysia (CigMA). The last question asks respondents to suggest what should be done to win over voters in the next general election.


Question nine confines the respondent’s choice of Prime Minister to two leaders—incumbent Mohd Najib Abdul Razak and Opposition Leader and de facto PKR chief Anwar Ibrahim.

Question eight asks whether they prefer BN to stay as the ruling party or to be replaced by PR or they are not concerned.

Question four asks respondents to say whether a local party or a national party will be their choice for the election.

The other six survey questions are in the multiple-choice format, each listing six possible answers.

What's needed in a candidate
The first question asks which of six political platforms are suitable for the particular location being surveyed. The six platforms are BN, PR, the Sabah Progressive Party, Bersekutu, a new local party, or an independent.
The second question asks whether six issues should be attended to by the government of the people’s choice: native land matters, illegal immigrants, award of small development projects without discrimination, mega projects, jobs for the people, and corruption in the award of development projects and other forms of development.

Question three is on the criteria to be employed when choosing a candidate for a particular location: a well-educated and suitable candidate from outside the location, local candidate, a young candidate, an experienced candidate, a popular candidate, a rich candidate, or a strong party supporter. Respondents can tick more than one answer.

Question five asks respondents whether they are happy with the Sabah BN government. Respondents have to choose one of six answers: satisfied, dissatisfied, hate, love, change government, and don’t know.

Question six asks respondents to say which party would be their families’ choice: BN, PR, Sapp, Bersekutu, new pro-BN local party, or new pro-PR local party.

Question seven is on the most suitable campaign system to be employed for the election: short text messaging (SMS) and the internet, house-to-house, use lots of money, whispering campaign, public gatherings and rallies on a large-scale, and telephone. Respondents can choose more than one answer and list them in order of priority.

The distribution of survey forms was preceded by discussions on current developments in PKR and the possibility of the general election being held in the near future.

The Third Force factor
Nearly two thirds favoured leaving PKR, five were keen to remain with the party, and the rest remained silent. One lady suggested finding out from PR co-ordinator Zaid Ibrahim whether he intends to form a new political party and, if so, what plans he has to work together with Sabah and Sarawak.

Phillip Among, 41, from Penampang, a key Jeffrey aide, was among those who spoke. He gave his view that the possibility of a general election being held within the next three months was “mere propaganda” being spread by PKR headquarters.

“They want to prevent the possibility of us leaving the party,” he said. “So, every three months they will say that the general election will be held within the next three months. The idea is to make sure that we don’t leave the party. In this way, we will run out of time to form a new political party before the election.”

Among was among those in favour of leaving PKR irrespective of whether a general election is held in the near future and without waiting for an alternative party to be set up.

Jeffrey, in his summing up of the meeting, cautioned against anyone quitting PKR in a hurry or rushing to form a new political party for Sabahans.

“We will have a better feel of the mood among the people and members once the survey forms are in,” said Jeffrey. “All of us accept PR’s agenda for change and reform but unfortunately the Borneo agenda is missing.”
He indicated that CigMA would arrange for a meeting next week to discuss the need for a Third Force in Malaysian politics.

He advised those who attended the meeting against thinking in terms of the Third Force as a new political party or coalition.

“It’s better to think of the Third Force as a new political culture leading towards a new movement,” he said. “If the movement eventually manifests itself in a new political party or coalition, so be it.”

CigMA deputy chairman Daniel John Jambun, who missed the meeting, said he doubted that Jeffrey would form a new party. “He probably wants to focus on something that he has always wanted to do—work across the political divide and spend more time with his family.”