KOTA KINABALU – Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) has poured scorn on Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal’s irate reaction to an assemblyman’s defection from his Parti Warisan Sabah.
GRS information chief Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said party president Shafie, who was chief minister in the previous state government, seems to have developed a “new moral compass” when it comes to political crossovers.
In a statement today, he reminded that Shafie himself became chief minister in May 2018 with the help of defectors.
Joniston, who is also Parti Bersatu Sabah secretary-general, said Sebatik assemblyman Hassan A. Gani Pg Amir’s departure from Warisan must have angered Shafie.
Hassan recently quit the party to become an independent friendly to the GRS state government.
Joniston suggested that Shafie is suffering from amnesia, as the latter seems to have forgotten the events engineered by Warisan to bring down the Barisan Nasional state administration following the 14th general election.
“Shafie saw it fit to accept not one, but six BN assemblymen barely 24 hours after another chief minister was sworn in, forming a backdoor government and effectively making him the chief minister in 2018.
“It would seem that only Shafie has the licence to accept defecting elected representatives on the basis that they had lost confidence in the then democratically elected government.”
He noted that Hassan’s decision to leave Warisan was also prompted by the rep’s loss of confidence in the party.
The move has given Shafie a newfound moral compass with regard to loyalty and good-versus-bad politics, he said.
“But upon closer look, it looks more like hypocrisy of the highest order by a man who is desperately hanging on to a sinking ship.”
He accused Warisan and its leaders of being more focused on fighting the “shadows and ghosts” of past politics, finger-pointing, and engaging in slander and mudslinging during their time in power.
Earlier today, Sabah Speaker Datuk Kadzim M. Yahya said a pre-signed resignation letter by Hassan, prepared prior to his running as a Warisan candidate in last September’s state polls, is ineffective.
He also said Hassan had sent a “counter letter” informing the speaker’s office of his departure from Warisan to become an independent supporting GRS.
Warisan has announced its plan to take legal action to compel the speaker to accept Hassan’s resignation letter. – The Vibes, March 3, 2021
