KOTA KINABALU – Warisan is in a good position to reclaim the Lahad Datu parliamentary seat that it lost after MP Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi left the party last October, party president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said.
Shafie said the party’s Lahad Datu division has remained stable despite Mohamaddin’s departure, and it will make sure to pick a strong candidate come the national polls, which must be held by May next year.
But we must also continue to work towards strengthening the party. As for candidates, we will look into the matter when the time comes,” Shafie told reporters at a breaking-of-fast event in Lahad Datu.
Shafie said it is important that they make sure their candidate of choice does not end up becoming another defector or a non-performing elected representative.
The Semporna MP and former chief minister also questioned the timing of the formation of a special select committee to scrutinise proposed constitutional amendments to pave the way for the much-awaited anti-party hopping law.
He said the committee could have been formed much earlier to avoid the MPs spending precious time flying over to Kuala Lumpur to attend a special parliamentary sitting that was initially called to debate and vote on the proposed constitutional amendments but ended up with no vote.
“It is not like we don’t have any work to do. All the MPs are busy with their jobs too,” Shafie said.
Shafie, who is also a former federal minister, said the government should have followed due process starting with the cabinet mooting the law and forming a special select cabinet committee to study it before presenting it to Parliament to be debated and for a vote.
Meanwhile, he said the higher special grant pay out to Sabah by the federal government this year did not follow the 40% revenue share that was supposed to go to the state as decided under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
He said he registered the same position with the Pakatan Harapan federal administration, which doubled the special grant pay out from RM26.7 million to RM53.4 million in 2020.
“This should not be the case as the state entitlement was 40%, not like this.” – The Vibes, April 15, 2022
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