Shafie (seated middle) says Warisan is open to formalising Opposition pact with Barisan and Parti KDM for the upcoming Sabah state election.
KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan is open to formalising a state Opposition pact with Barisan Nasional and Parti KDM ahead of the Sabah election, which could be called earlier than scheduled in 2025.
Its president, Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, said they had held informal talks with Sabah Barisan and Umno chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and Melalap assemblyman Datuk Peter Anthony, who heads KDM.
“We are looking at this. We have met with our friends Bung Moktar and Anthony,” he told reporters after a meeting with Warisan youth leaders at their Kolombong office on Wednesday (Nov 8).
“We are open to working with anyone to realise the claim on state rights and protection of Sabahans. What is important is how to translate (the cooperation) for the rights of Sabahans. Those are Warisan’s priorities,” he added.
Warisan, Sabah Barisan and KDM were part of a failed bid to topple the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor in January.
At the federal level, GRS – comprised of seven local parties anchored by Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah), Barisan, Warisan and KDM - are all part of the unity government.
However, Shafie said that he had told party members to fortify Warisan first before casting glances elsewhere on potential political partners to rival the now-dominant GRS coalition.
The former chief minister noted that the party must take lessons from its past that “friends” could one day desert them.
“I’ve told my party members ‘strengthen your house now, don’t think about other houses first’.
That is something we must do first. We’ve had many experiences before where we helped other parties, even to the point of allowing them to use our logo, “ said Shafee
“But after that, they left us, so we have to learn,” the Semporna MP added.
Shafie said establishing a coalition was not necessarily the best solution as it could bring about more division, especially if the cooperation was based on gaining positions post-victory.
“Before we have any pact or coalitions, we should unify the people of Sabah first. That is why we (Warisan) are vocal on defending state rights,” he said.
On the one-third representation for Sabah and Sarawak in the Dewan Rakyat, Shafie hoped the government would consider the size of constituencies in both states instead of just depending on the number of voters on the delineation of electoral boundaries.
He said some Sabah parliamentary constituencies were bigger than some full states in the peninsula, and yet they remained as one parliamentary seat each.
The Warisan president said Putrajaya also must return the one-third representation to Sabah and Sarawak as it was agreed during the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
“This is not a privilege but a right promised to us that should be returned. When Singapore left the Federation, their seats were not distributed to Sabah and Sarawak,” said Shafee.
“It should remain one-third for Sabah and Sarawak, but we (Sabah) still have 25 seats, of which peninsula-based parties actually hold many,” he added.
