A Sabah businessman, Datu Mohamed Akjan bin Datu Ali, was proclaimed the real "Sultan of Sulu" in a ceremony in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, a fortnight ago.
It was not widely reported in the Malaysian media but the event was serious enough to cause ripples in the East Malaysian state. It also has the potential to create complications in Kuala Lumpur's relations with the Philippines.
Significantly, the new ruler's self-styled prime minister-in-exile, Datu Albi Ahmad Julkarnain, said at the investiture that the Sulu Sultanate was not part of the Philippines and has never been a part of the Philippines.
As Dr Farish Noor, a senior fellow at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies, noted in a commentary: "By claiming themselves to be the real [albeit virtual] government of Sulu in exile, Datu Mohamed Akjan and Datu Albi Ahmad were also claiming by extension that the present-day rulers and government of Sulu, who are backed by the Philippine government, are illegitimate."
Manila has recognized Esmail Dalus Kiram II as the rightful Sultan of Sulu. It continues to maintain the stand that Sulu transferred its suzerainty and sovereignty over Sabah to Manila when it joined the Republic of the Philippines.
Sulu has always been a complex problem. The Sultanate once covered an area stretching from Sulu and the Palawan islands, the Spratlys and Basilan to parts of Borneo, including Sabah.
The Sultanate obtained Sabah from the Sultanate of Brunei as a gift for helping it suppress an insurgency in Borneo. The British leased Sabah and transferred control over the territory to Malaysia in 1963.
The Philippines was initially hostile to the formation of Malaysia as it claimed that Sabah was once part of the Sultanate of Sulu, and that Sulu was part of the Philippines. But Manila decided to place its claims on the backburner in the interest of good relations with its Asean partner and it dropped its so-called Sabah claim.
The new Sultan is causing an uproar in Sabah, with politicians questioning how he could be declared the sovereign of another country.
He is a Malaysian citizen and has been a member of the powerful United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) for for two decades. He was once detained under the Internal Security Act for fabricating identity cards for immigrants in Sabah.
Sabah politician Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said that "the most important question pressing on the minds of Malaysians now is what is the [federal] government going to do about it, or is the government going to continue to be quiet and ignore [the proclamation]?"
"It clearly violates the immigration laws of Malaysia," the chairman of the United Borneo Front said. "If he claims to be the Sultan of Sulu, that clearly means he is no longer a citizen of
Malaysia. This is because Malaysia doesn't allow dual citizenship."
While the police are investigating the matter, the event has raised political tension.
First, there is the issue of the loyalty of thousands of immigrants from the Philippines who were allowed to settle in Sabah and given citizenship. They fled to Malaysia to escape the conflict in the southern Philippines between the 1960s and 1990s.
Second, the new development is fodder for the opposition who, analysts say, have been trying to rekindle feelings of Sabahan solidarity and opposition to the federal government in Kuala Lumpur.
Says Dr Farish: "Sabah politicians like Yong Teck Lee have once again raised the issue of the granting of Malaysian citizenship status to foreigners in Sabah, which local Sabah opposition leaders claim has led to the relative shrinking of the size of the original Sabahan population thanks to the influx of foreign migrants, both legal and illegal."
The renewed debate prompted some to demand a royal commission to investigate immigration, but the suggestion was promptly rejected by Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein, who said the government was already dealing with the problem of foreign immigrants.
Disagreeing, Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan argued that there was merit in having a commission, for it would show sincerity on the part of the government.
To underscore the gravity of the situation, Arthur Sen of the United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation, cited statistics to show that Sabah's population had risen from 636,431 in 1970 to 3,313,000 in 2005, adding: "This extraordinary growth causes concern among the local population who feel their security is threatened by the influx of 'instant citizens' and immigrants."
There has been speculation that the ruling Barisan Nasional federal government has facilitated the registration of illegal immigrants as citizens so they would then vote for the ruling coalition.
Should BN's support drop in Peninsular Malaysia, it can count on this bloc of voters in Sabah to stay ahead. By Salim Osman - Straits Times Indonesia
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