Sin Chew Daily

Although the Kota Kinabalu high court will only decide on August 21 whether to approve the application by former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman and 32 other state assemblymen to review the Yang di-Pertua Negeri's decision to dissolve the state assembly, the election commission has already announced on Monday that the 16th Sabah state election will be held on September 26, with nomination on September 12.

The Sabah election is not just about the administration of the state alone, but has broad implications on the entire country's political situation. As such, the state election naturally falls in national limelight.

As the nation focuses on the election in Sabah, there are two other issues that also warrant our serious attention: political defections and coronavirus.

First the "frogs". The Parti Warisan Sabah led by Shafie Apdal will fight alongside PH and USNO, with Perikatan Nasional to claim the Land Below the Wind. Although the bloc may also work with other smaller local parties, the duel is mainly between Warisan and PN.

The two major political camps are comparable in strength with no side able to claim absolute advantage.

In the 2018 general elections, both Warisan and BN won 29 state seats each. The parliament approved last year to increase the number of state seats from 60 to 73, and these additional 13 seats will be the most tightly fought battlefields in the upcoming Sabah election. Any side that takes most of these seats will get to rule for several more years to come.

Owing to very close fights, in the event any side wins by a very narrow margin, a couple of elected reps jumping ship may once again cause the fall of the new administration.

It is very unhealthy in a democracy for political frogs to have the absolute say in deciding who gets to form the government. The voters should be the bosses of this country, not political frogs who betray the public mandate with the lame excuse they are doing this to serve the interest of the people.

Political defection is extremely rampant in Sabah and such an unhealthy trend must be put to an end now.

Political parties on both sides of the divide are duty-bound to respect the will of majority of voters and explicitly state their position to reject ship-jumping before the polls.

In the meantime, local NGOs and voters must also do likewise by rejecting these "kataks" outright.

Whichever side that wins the election and helms the new state administration must be respected by all, as this is the choice of the people that must never, never be upended by the greedy political frogs.

On the other hand, with the Sabah state election held in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, it has to be conducted under the new normal way.

Although the coronavirus situation is largely under control in this country, there have been recent signs of rebound that do not allow us to let down our guard.

The state of Sabah has so far confirmed more than 400 positive COVID-19 cases. Although it is less serious than Klang Valley, the authorities must make sure proper arrangements and supervision are in place especially when tens of thousands of people go out at the same time to cast their ballots.

Drawing the experience in the recent Chini by-election, the EC should make proper arrangements to ensure that Sabahans can vote and exercise their civic duties safely by adhering to strict SOPs.