KOTA KINABALU – Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, today defended his party’s national expansion, saying the party has no intention of dividing the opposition into “fragments”.
He said Warisan’s move is to provide an alternative venue to Malaysian voters following the country’s main opposition coalition, Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) poor results in recent polls.
“We cannot worry about the opposition in Malaysia being fragmented. We are giving Malaysians a choice.
“It is already proven in Melaka and Sarawak that they (PH) are not voters’ choice (in the state polls).
Still, this does not mean we are not working with them. But I have seen what it’s like to be part of the government and opposition.
“It is not that we are stubborn,” he said during his Chinese New Year walkabout at Gaya Street today.
Shafie said he has worked with PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, former prime ministers Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin both in Barisan Nasional (BN) and PH and therefore, understood the brand of politics brought forth by these leaders.
He noted that Warisan brings about a new brand of politics, which, according to him, is the kind that is not divisive or based on race and religion.
He also said the party would also not be agreeable to a memorandum that has tipped the political balance in Malaysia.
“There are elements of corruption in the memorandum. You don’t expect me to sign a memorandum that if you become part of Keluarga Malaysia, you get RM3 million but if you don’t, you don’t get the RM3 million.
“In Parliament, there’s also a meeting to discuss support on laws between MPs, before they are debated.
“What values do we have? Is this the democratic system we want? We cannot toy with the grassroots and value monetary gain more,” said Shafie.
The Semporna MP also took a swipe at the government on their disaster management and preparedness.
He said the trend of non-governmental organisations and private individuals being first in providing aid to the disaster victims should be a concern.
“It is the people who are willing to help out first. They don’t have allocations, they do not have salaries. They are NGOs and the people,” said Shafie, pointing to the recent flooding disasters in Penampang, Sabah, and in Selangor.
He said it is the government that should be in the forefront as they have all the assets and resources.
Recalling his time as a deputy minister in the Defence Ministry, he claimed that he had instructed the security personnel to be on the ground first, as well as build bridges and homes for disaster victims.
Such moves, Shafie said, would not only allow the government and the security forces to be closer to the rakyat and form some kind of unity among the people, but also augurs well in first response in times of disasters.
He said the government should no longer wait now that the drought season is coming after heavy rainfall and flooding disasters. – The Vibes, January 23, 2022
