Should Pmx Be Bracing For Pakatan Harapan Wipeout In Sabah Polls Following Ex Polsec S Folly

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Editor’s Note: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has on late last night (Nov 26) asked the woman implicated in a video clip conversing with Datuk Albert Tei Jiann Cheing – the businessman at the centre of the high-profile Sabah mining license corruption case – to provide her statement at the MACC office.
Aside from the woman identified as Sofia Rini Buyong who is alleged to be a proxy to Datuk Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, the former senior political secretary (polsec) to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who stepped down from his post on Tuesday (Nov 25), the graft buster has also contacted Tei to show up at the MACC office on the same date.

AFTER the PAS/Perikatan Nasional (PN) foray into The Land Below the Wind hit a snag following the Gardenia bread insult levelled at Sabahans, it seems that the fate of Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition members contesting in this Saturday’s (Nov 29) 17th state polls, too, is hanging in the balance.
Amid PMX’s statement yesterday (Nov 26) that he accepted in good faith his aide’s resignation and that graft buster MACC is “free to promptly investigate the matter without external interference”, detractors are rejoicing that Shamsul’s abrupt resignation is tantamount to the final nail in the coffin for the Madani government.
Some commenters ingenuously or otherwise predicted that the alleged RM629,000 in bribes that Shamsul received from Tei – both in kind and in cash (including pound sterling and greenback) – is as good as “PKR, DAP and Amanah” bidding farewell to the Sabah state election.
Beyond that, they expect this development to have spill-over effect other political coalitions linked to PH, notably Barisan Nasional (BN) and the incumbent GRS (Gabungan Rakyat Sabah).


Regardless if DAP would still back PMX despite the corrupt practice happened under the latter’s nose is as good as anybody’s guess but one self-proclaimed thought leader did highlight the dubious circumstances surrounding PMX’s choice of aides.
“His last two political secretaries – Datuk Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak (2018-2022) and Shamsul (2022-2025),” penned Pemikir Malaysia (@pemikirmsia) on X.



“As a supporter, at some stage, you just have to accept the bitter truth staring you in the face. The music has stopped. The bubble has burst.”
‘Corruption not disqualifying facto’
Interestingly, the earlier commenter recalled how Shamsul who had narrowly lost with a 348-vote majority to UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (now Deputy PM) in the Bagan Datuk parliamentary seat contest during the 2022 national polls had refrained from seeking a recount of votes.
In Shamsul’s own admission in October 2024, his decision was very much influenced by a late-night phone call by PMX not to file a challenge.

This itself is an insinuation that PMX back then could have already promised a key position to Shamsul who bears the reputation of a giant slayer for having defeated former Melaka chief minister and UMNO strongman Tun Mohd Ali Rustam (now Melaka governor) not once but twice in the 13th General Election (GE13) (2013) and GE14 (2018) respectively.
But as to whether Shamsul’s alleged graft involvement will rock PH’s – or more specifically PKR’s chances (the party will be fielding 10 candidates) – in this weekend’s Sabah state polls is quite a subjective matter, according to renowned political commentator/analyst Prof James Chin.
“Vote-buying has been a permanent fixture in every (Sabah) election cycle. To most voters there, corruption is just one issue among many when judging a candidate – not the decisive, disqualifying facto,” opined the inaugural director of the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania.

“In my view, these allegations will actually carry far greater weight on the peninsula than in Sabah itself mainly because Shamsul is PMX’s chief political advisor.
“For those already convinced the government’s reformasi agenda is dead, this is simply another nail in the coffin. The question now is obvious: will PMX ask MACC to investigate Shamsul (which he already did)?” –  Focus Malaysia

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