KOTA KINABALU – Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal has slammed DAP over the conditions the peninsula-based party has set for political cooperation.
The Semporna MP said it was “arrogant” for DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke to call for a discussion under the condition that its parliamentary seats – Tenom, Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan – were “off-limits”.
“They want a meeting, we can have a meeting. They want to talk, we’ll talk, but there’s a condition,” Shafie said during a press conference today.
“This is one-way traffic. You cannot be too arrogant. Our goal is to win (the election). If you want to talk, we talk like we did before (the 14th general election), not just about seats, but also direction and distribution.”
Shafie said DAP, a peninsula-based party, should not be criticising Warisan when the latter contested in Johor, as it is also contesting in Sabah seats.
Respecting PBS’ decision
Meanwhile, Shafie said he respected Parti Bersatu Sabah president Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili’s decision to turn down Warisan’s offer for political cooperation.
During a Kaamatan open house on Saturday, the former Sabah chief minister restated his interest in working with PBS, but Ongkili reiterated his party’s loyalty to the Sabah ruling alliance, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).
PBS was previously a GRS-friendly party but became a full-fledged component of the alliance after the coalition was officially registered by the Registrar of Societies.
“We have expressed our intention, but if this is what PBS wants, we can’t force them (to work with us).
“I am expressing our interest in working with a Sabah-based party…But to us, the best among the parties from the beginning is PBS.
“We can merge with PBS similar to how the Sarawak parties do it in Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).”
Despite PBS’ “flair” in Sabah, Shafie said the dominant partner in the GRS alliance is a peninsula-based party, unlike in Sarawak where local parties hold power.
Shafie also said Warisan had learned its lessons from working with peninsula-based parties in PH, when federal leaders did not deliver certain promises.
For instance, he said the state’s entitlement to 40% of its revenue, as provided for in the federal constitution, was not addressed during the PH administration.
Instead, he said PH had only given RM56 million, a mere RM20 million increase from the RM26.7 million annual payments the state has been receiving since 1974.
“I recalled in the committee formed to relook into the Malaysia Agreement 1963 during the PH reign, I saw (former economic affairs minister) Datuk (Seri Mohamed) Azmin Ali and (ex-finance minister) Lim Guan Eng rejecting (the revenue entitlement).
“Imagine the amount of 40% returned to Sabah from the collection of income tax, oil palm, petroleum and others, which could be used to build infrastructure for Sabah.”
“This is the problem when we prioritise ‘friendly parties’ before the needs and rights of the people in Sabah.”
He added that the situation is the same for the current GRS state government. – The Vibes, June 7, 2022
