Sabah is known as “Land Below The Wind” but typhoon of discontent is building up so fast among the BN component partners in Sabah that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is flying there next Monday to calm the tempest. But he may flying into the eye of the another storm brewing in neighbouring Sarawak.

Trouble started when the East Malaysians felt short-changed when the PM announced his new cabinet line-up with reduced East Malaysian representation despite the two states being the electoral backbone of the ruling Barisan coalition. Politicians there warned that the declining number of East Malaysians in the Federal Cabinet is a cause of concern as this could have detrimental effects on the Barisan Nasional.

Firing the latest salvo is National Central Youth MCA Committee member cum MCA Sabah Deputy Youth chief Wilfred Yong Monday.

“In Sabah and Sarawak, the people supporting BN candidates showed a strength of force on March 8 and in many cases, the majorities garnered by the candidates in these two states increased substantially compared with their counterparts in Peninsular Malaysia, where there were disturbing losses of support,” Yong said.

“By any measure East Malaysia is now the national bastion of BN and neither Umno nor any of the other parties should, by default, squander the vital parliamentary seats.

Last Saturday, six Sabah Umno leaders flew in to see Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Putrajaya although the state Umno was careful to clarify later that they went on their personal capacities.

The six leaders who met the PM were Kinabatangan MP Datuk Bung Moktar Radin, Kalabakan MP Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh, Pantai Manis Asemblyman Datuk Abdul Rahim Ismail, Datuk Salleh Said Keruak, Umno Kota Marudu chief Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Haji Mulia and former Sipitang MP Datuk Dr Yusof Yaacob.

The discontent is coming not only the grass root levels but also top down and there was rumours even Parti Upko president Bernard Dompok who was reappointed as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department may resign but he has dismissed such talk.

Dompok is also quoted as saying Sabah BN component parties want balanced representation in the (Federal) Cabinet. He said that wherever he went, he was questioned on the issue of Sabah BN representation in the Federal Government, especially after they had won 24 of the 25 parliamentary seats in the state in the March 8 general election.

He said Sabah and Sarawak, which delivered 54 of the 140 parliamentary seats to the BN, only got five ministerial posts — three for Sabah and two for Sarawak — while Johor BN, which delivered 25 seats, got seven ministerial posts, he said. Dompok said: “It looks like what the people of Sabah have given (to the BN) has been taken for granted.

The rumours of his quitting surfaced following the abrupt resignation of Kalabakan MP Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh as Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister on Wednesday, local papers reported.

Earlier Kimanis MP Datuk Anifah Aman also turned down the Deputy Transport Minister’s job. Sabah Barisan Nasional delivered 24 of the 25 MP seats but most leaders were disappointed that the state did not have better representation at the federal level. Anifah is the younger brother of Chief Minister Musa Aman.

Last Thursday, Sabah Umno secretary Datuk Masidi Manjun said Sabah deserved better representation in the Federal Cabinet. Masidi who is also Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, added that as a Sabahan he felt that Sabah deserved better representation and that the ministers from Sabah should also be given appropriate portfolios.

Meanwhile in Tawau, Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal also quashed rumours that he too would be resigning from his federal post.

Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman said the PM will meet Sabah Umno and state Barisan Nasional (BN) component party leaders on Monday to address concerns on the appointment of ministers from the state in the federal administration.

Sabah BN leaders had expressed disappointment as only three ministers from the state were appointed to the federal cabinet. They are Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.

Bernama also reported that the Sarawak BN is also unhappy with the number of MPs from the state appointed to the federal cabinet despite delivering 30 of the 31 parliamentary seats. The situation in the Land of the Hornbills is somewhat more muted.

“We are not saying anything as yet. We’ll have to wait to see where the chips fall inSabah,” says an analyst in Kuching. (By Bob Teoh/ MySinchew)