ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews political developments in Sabah and Sarawak since independence and argues that the common theme since independence has been an attempt to export the Barisan Nasional (BN)/United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) model of government to East Malaysia. The model is essentially based on a Muslim-led coalition government with Ketuanan Melayu, and, Ketuanan Islam, as its ideological core. On 27 March 2003, Musa Aman from UMNO was sworn in as Sabah's thirteenth chief minister. A year later, the rotation system was scrapped, apparently because, according to UMNO, Sabah was 'ungovernable' with the chief ministership changing every two years. Unlike Sabah politics, politics in Sarawak has been remarkably stable for over forty years. Essentially the state has been ruled by a single Melanau-Muslim family since 1970. From 1963–70, both of Sarawak's chief ministers were Iban Christians. In 1966, the Sarawak Alliance government under Stephen Kalong Ningkan, from the Sarawak National Party, fell as a direct result of federal government intervention.
