(AFP) - The sleepy state of Sabah on Borneo
island, better known for its rainforests and orangutans, has taken
centre stage in a battle to determine who rules Malaysia.


Far from the nation's capital and political
centre, a tiny Sabah component party in the ruling 14-member coalition
last week called for a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Such an act by a
party with just two lawmakers would normally be irrelevant, but with
the Barisan Nasional coalition weak and facing a possible ouster by a
resurgent opposition, it was political dynamite.
"Our
window of opportunity is now and we must make a stand if Sabah does not
want to be forgotten," said Sabah Progressive Party President Yong Teck
Lee who dropped the bombshell which analysts say may ripple through the
coalition.
"We have to act now as we will not have this bargaining position for very long," he told AFP on the weekend.
Although
the no-confidence motion is unlikely to succeed when parliament resumes
Monday, it highlights Abdullah's precarious position as head of the
United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) which leads the coalition.
UMNO
has gone through the grinder after its worst ever election results
earlier this year when it lost control of five states and its
two-thirds majority in parliament.
Former
deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, who led the opposition to its
unprecedented gains, now says he has enough support to form a
government with the help of defectors -- he needs just 30 more seats in
parliament.
Yong has said his party will
consider joining the opposition, and Anwar is also believed to be
courting other coalition members, as well as UMNO lawmakers, in Sabah
and neighbouring Sarawak state.
Life is
slow for most in Kota Kinabalu, where fishing boats with multicoloured
pennants pull up to jetties and wet markets line the centre of the
state capital.
Maud Bin Timoh, 48, who
sells cut fruit from one of the numerous stalls along the waterfront
promenade, is one of many who support Yong's move which included
demands for a bigger share in Sabah's oil revenues.
"I'm
happy that our politicians are creating problems in Kuala Lumpur," he
said as he chopped papaya next to a garbage-filled gutter.
"We have been neglected for so long and now that we have a chance, we need to demand what is rightfully ours," he told AFP.
Many
Sabahans are seriously unhappy with the way they have been treated
since the state, along with Sarawak and Singapore, joined the Malaysian
federation in 1963.
Singapore left Malaysia in 1965 but Sabah and Sarawak stayed on, and some now feel that was a bad decision.
"When
Sabah and Sarawak joined in 1963, a 20-point clause was inserted into
the merger agreement promising political autonomy, major development
aid and much more," says James Chin, who has written extensively on the
state.
"Unfortunately, over the last 45
years, most Sabahans feel the government has not lived up to their end
of the bargain," he told AFP.
"Much of
the state's natural oil reserves go to the federal government but less
than five percent is returned to the people here," he said.
Many
Sabahans are also worried about the large numbers of Muslim Filipinos
who have settled here illegally, tipping the ethnic balance against
indigenous tribes who were formerly in the majority.
In peninsular Malaysia, Muslim Malays are the dominant population, alongside large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.
"The
issue of immigration is the mother of all problems in Sabah and we must
stop all these Muslim foreigners who are coming in illegally," said
Wilfred Tanggau, secretary general of the United Pasokmomogun
Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (UPKO) which is also part of the ruling
coalition.
Development has also been
slow in coming for the state which is about half the size of peninsular
Malaysia, carved by massive mountain ranges and with many primitive
villages and towns that remain almost inaccessible.
"It
is important to shatter the government's attitude that they can ignore
Sabah and continue to rule this country," state opposition leader
Jeffrey Kitigan told AFP.