IN an apparent swipe against Sabah opposition leader Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor has attributed the downfall of the Warisan-led government in September 2020 to its own missteps.
Hajiji, who leads the ruling Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), stated that Warisan’s ascent to power in 2018 was without a clear election victory and it later failed to regain power through the 2020 snap state polls due to losses.
“I say this because I witnessed it all. If they (Warisan) had not failed, they would still be the government. But they did not.
“Shafie’s decision to dissolve the assembly also saw him failing to capture the people’s mandate,” said Hajiji during GRS’ mini carnival held in Kota Kinabalu yesterday.
Shafie was chief minister from May 2018 to September 2020. Hajiji was then appointed to the post after the state election.
In the 2018 general election, Warisan and Pakatan Harapan (PH) captured the Sabah government with the help of Upko, which had quit Barisan Nasional (BN). This led to a hung state assembly.
However, by mid-2020, the Warisan-PH-Upko alliance lost its majority when several assemblymen switched sides to support BN, prompting Shafie to prematurely dissolve the assembly to pave the way for a snap election.
The Warisan-led alliance, identifying itself as “Warisan Plus”, fell short in the 16th Sabah election and could not defend its hold on the state.
Hajiji, who is GRS president, also accused Warisan leaders of propagating false narratives to undermine the GRS administration as the next state election draws closer.
He also lambasted Shafie for proposing the reinstatement of Article 6(7) of the Sabah
constitution if Warisan returns to power, claiming that seems to belittle the capabilities of others.
Sabah abolished the provision when adopting the anti-party hopping law in May last year.
The now abolished Article 6(7) gained attention during the chief minister’s crisis
in January 2023 when allegations emerged that Hajiji had lost the majority as several Umno reps decided to withdraw support from GRS.
The provision states that the candidate for chief minister must be a leader of a political
party. It was introduced in 1990 by the Parti Bersatu Sabah government to guide the Sabah governor on the appointment of a chief minister.
But pundits cited the provision as ill-considered when it was drafted and that it was impossible for a single party to win more than half of the seats due to the political landscape where governments are formed by political alliances.
Hajiji also drew comparison of his administration to when Shafie was chief minister, challenging him to show the list of his successes when he was in power. – The Vibes, March 10, 2024
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