Conduct unbecoming of a politician

Careless words may have hurt Warisan Plus’ election chances

IN Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi’s bumbling world, there are no gay people in Malaysia.

There were also no armed Sulu intruders during the Tanduo intrusion in 2013, which saw 10 police officers and 56 Filipino militants killed.

In a video clip that went viral recently, the Parti Warisan Sabah supreme council member and Lahad Datu MP claimed that Malaysian security forces were fighting off “chickens and dogs”.

He also said military aircraft and tanks deployed to Tanduo, about 37km from Lahad Datu town in Sabah, destroyed oil palm plantations.

He should have known better. He is the MP of Lahad Datu – renamed from Silam – where the Tanduo incursion happened.

These latest remarks from the gaffe-prone former federal minister during his campaigning for the upcoming state election did not come as a surprise.

When he was the tourism, arts and culture minister, Mohamaddin was one of the controversial figures in Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Pakatan Harapan Cabinet.

“Homosexuality? I don’t think we have such a thing in our country,” he said at the ITB Berlin travel fair in 2019 when asked by German media if Malaysia was a safe destination for homosexuals.

Will his blunder cost Warisan Plus (consisting of Warisan, Upko, DAP, PKR and Amanah) votes in the snap Sabah polls?

Ilham Centre executive director Hisommudin Bakar contended that it would have compromised Warisan Plus’ votes in yesterday’s early voting for the Sabah election, especially in seats with military and police voters.

“Swing votes would happen in seats like Tanjung Keramat which have a high number of early voters, and it would benefit nonWarisan Plus candidates,” he said.

There were 20,871 early voters or 2% of the state electorate. The top six state seats with the most early voters were Tanjung Keramat (2,852), Karambunai (2,131), Karamunting (1,842), Kapayan (1,504), Kukusan (1,353) and ApiApi (1,190).

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia political analyst Dr Mazlan Ali agreed that Mohamaddin’s serious gaffes could affect the armed forces and police votes.

“They were not clever remarks and showed no political maturity,” he said.

Hisommudin said the remarks had somewhat affected Warisan’s aggressive campaign.

If Warisan president and caretaker chief minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal and his party could not contain the issue, it could contribute to the government alliance losing support, he said.

“It is more dangerous if the issue snowballs; it will be a slap to the Warisan campaign,” he added.

Will the blunder cost Mohamaddin his chances of winning in Segama, one of the four state seats in his Lahad Datu parliamentary constituency?

If the Lahad Datu MP could pass the storm, Hisommudin said the fallout could still affect state seats in urban areas where the voters were rational and educated.

The bumbling politician has since apologised for his remarks. Now, for him, the Tanduo intrusion is not just a show anymore.