SANDAKAN – More people are voting for candidates rather than parties, said Warisan president based on observations in the recent state elections.
Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said he believes in the coming election, at least 60% of the people will vote based on candidates, as the recent elections in Johor and Sabah have shown.
“Independent candidates winning (seats in the two state elections) shows that people are not looking only at the party, but voting based on the candidates.
“I believe cooperation with the people is more important than cooperation with other parties because the people decide who will be the government.”
Shafie said this at a press conference in Lahad Datu today after a meet-and-greet during Warisan’s tour of the east coast.
The Lahad Datu parliamentary seat was won by Warisan in the 2018 general election by Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi, who left the party in 2021 and joined Bersatu in the same year.
Mohamaddin left Bersatu after seven months and joined Parti Bangsa Malaysia. He was then appointed as its state chairman last month.
Earlier, Shafie told the attendees that Warisan is the strongest single party in Sabah, with the most number of seats.
“In the peninsula, the people may have a hard time deciding – vote for Bersatu or vote for BN (Barisan Nasional). But in Sabah, we all know what we want. We want a Sabah party. We want Warisan.”
Warisan has seven MPs and 18 assemblymen in the 79-seat state assembly.
Shafie is expected to head to Tawau and Kalabakan tomorrow, and to Sandakan after that.
Several political parties in Sabah are currently on pre-election tours, including Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (Jelajah GRS) and BN (Gelombang Biru). – The Vibes, September 24, 2022
