KOTA KINABALU – Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal is keeping his political cards close to his chest, following PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s public declaration on wresting Putrajaya from the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN).
The caretaker chief minister evaded the matter when queried by journalists today on whether he supports Anwar, who is parliamentary opposition leader. He said that he still has the Sabah election on September 26 (Saturday) to win.
"Well, let me focus. We want the Warisan Plus alliance to win the election in Sabah. I am here to make sure that we win in Sabah," he said.
Yesterday, Anwar who is also Port Dickson MP, claimed that he now has enough MPs to back him in ousting PN from the federal government which is headed by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin of Bersatu.
The Vibes reported earlier today that Anwar has at least 15 Umno MPs behind him.
Warisan has nine MPs and is a Pakatan Harapan-friendly party. However, it is not a component party in the coalition.
PKR is part of the Warisan Plus alliance in Sabah, where it is supporting Warisan to retain its hold on the state in the election.
However, prior to nominations on September 12, PKR had run into some disagreement with Warisan on the alliance’s seat arrangement, and got close to being removed from the pact.
The party was only given seven seats to contest, although it had announced much earlier that it would run in 14 state constituencies. The dispute has since been resolved.
With less than two days left in the campaign, Shafie appears upbeat about a Warisan victory though he maintains that he does not want to be complacent until it is over.
"We still need to work hard. But from what I heard from the people on the ground, they seem to be saying that we (are headed for) a win," he said.
Muhyiddin attempts to woo Shafie
Meanwhile, Shafie is being entreated by Muhyiddin to stand by him following Anwar’s declaration.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Kota Kinabalu last night, Muhyiddin, who is Bersatu president, said it is better for “his friend” Shafie to be on the side of the PN federal government. Shafie and Muhyiddin formerly served together in the federal cabinet during their days in Umno.
“We were both once together. Yet, tonight he is not here. For all I know Shafie might be campaigning somewhere else and attacking me while I am campaigning here and attacking him. But it is okay, this is all politics,” Muhyiddin said.
“Don’t think of me as someone from Kuala Lumpur who wants to colonise Sabah. Since when do I want (to) colonise Sabah? This face is not the face of a coloniser,” he added.
He stressed the importance of a strong collaboration between federal and state parties to ensure development comes to Sabah quickly and in the best way.
“We want to help… I have said before that Sabah is a state that is rich and has natural resources that we could develop together,” he added. – The Vibes, September 24, 2020
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