Shafie’s Warning Dashes Hopes Of A Sabah Opposition Coalition

Shafie’s Warning Dashes Hopes Of A Sabah Opposition Coalition - Hopes for local opposition parties to cobble together an electoral pact have dimmed further with Parti Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal warning potential partners not to issue ultimatums.

Shafie said Warisan was ready to discuss and negotiate with other parties on electoral seat sharing arrangements for the coming general election, but hoped that “parties do not issue ultimatums.”

He was responding to a recent statement by Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) president Datuk Wilfred Bumburing, who had said that all seats should be shared equally.

Bumburing also said that no party should take the lion’s share of Sabah’s 60 state and 25 parliamentary seats.

Shafie, the Semporna MP and a former Umno vice president, said that the question of being a dominant party should not arise as it is not about giving seats but whether the candidates fielded can win.

“They are free to make their choices,” Shafie told reporters after attending a Warisan public forum here on Sunday (March 11).

He said that Warisan was open to having discussions with PCS, and Pakatan Harapan’s Sabah DAP and Sabah PKR, with the ultimate aim of toppling the state's Barisan Nasional-led government.

“They should realise that Warisan is a multiracial party with Kadazandusun members. Some of them also want to contest if given the chance. What we want is to field winnable candidates,” said Shafie.

He added that that Warisan believed that the way forward was on a multiracial base, and said that there should be sacrifices if the Opposition wants to unseat the state government.

Following the statement, political observers said they expect PCS to go it alone after it left the Gabungan Sabah coalition last year hoping to forge a political alliance with Warisan.

On the promise in the Pakatan Harapan manifesto to set up a committee to study the Malaysia Agreement 1963, Shafie said that there was no need for a committee to study the matter as the real issue was its implementation.

He also said that the manifesto was in the right direction with its proposed abolition of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the reduction of the burden on the public as it would need more prudent government spending.