KOTA KINABALU – Warisan leaders are livid that the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah – Barisan Nasional (GRS-BN) coalition keeps enticing Warisan’s reps to join the ruling parties.
Warisan vice-president Datuk Jaujan Sambakong said that the practice of “offering remuneration” to Warisan reps must stop.
“This action of pressuring the opposition reps by offering remuneration to stay in power is disgusting.
“It is like it has become a trend.
“They (ruling parties) target people’s representatives who are facing financial problems, to the point that they (reps) have forgotten their main responsibility when they were given the mandate during the last state election,” he said in a statement today.
Jaujan was referring to Kukusan rep and former Warisan vice-chief of its women’s wing Rina Jainal who announced her departure from the party to join Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah yesterday.
He said the move by the ruling coalition to “entice-and-jump” is disrespectful to the people’s mandate that was given through the state election.
Instead of buying reps to “jump ship”, Jaujan said GRS-BN should have focused on the road conditions in the state and the inflation and unemployment problems that the people are facing.
“If the reps really want to serve the people, then they don’t need to join the government. Be an independent rep and work independently,” he said.
Jaujan, who is the Sulabayan assemblyman, said like for the several former Warisan reps who have jumped ship, the party will take legal action against Rina.
He said all its reps are bound to the party’s rules as they took an oath of allegiance to the party before they were chosen to represent Warisan in the 16th Sabah election.
“In the appointment letter, they (candidates) have all agreed to resign from their positions as assemblymen if they shift their support from Warisan,” he said.
Latest in string of Warisan resignations
Warisan won a total of 23 seats in the 2020 Sabah election. One Warisan rep, Bugaya assemblywoman Manis Muka Mohd Darah, passed away in November 2020, leaving the seat vacant.
In 2021, Warisan had 22 assemblymen but lost five after Sebatik assemblyman Hassan A. Gani, Sindumin assemblyman Datuk Yusof Yacob, Segama assemblyman Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi, Melalap assemblyman Datuk Peter Anthony, and Limbahau assemblyman Datuk Juil Nuatim left the party.
Warisan, then with 17 assemblymen, accepted two former DAP reps, Sri Tanjong’s Justin Wong and Elopura’s Calvin Chong this year.
With Rina’s departure, Warisan now has seven MPs and 18 assemblymen. – The Vibes, June 6, 2022
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