KOTA KINABALU – A Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan) leader has described Warisan as an inconsequential party that has run out of options but to support Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim after cutting ties with Pakatan Harapan (PH) before last year’s general election.
Gagasan information chief Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan said Warisan only has three MPs, a number with no significant impact on the unity government led by Anwar.
He said the unity government was already stable with the backing of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Barisan Nasional, and PH.
“The reality is Warisan has no intention of supporting any parties or any national leaders. For this, they decided to end their ties with PH and go solo in GE15 (last year’s general election),” he said.
Warisan had formed an electoral pact with PH in the 2018 general election.
The alliance also saw Warisan and PH forming the state government and working together during the previous state administration.
Warisan later decided to go solo before GE15 was held in November last year.
“Their (Warisan) decision to support Anwar and the formation of the unity government came about because they had no other choice. They only have three MPs, and… with their support or not, the unity government will still be strong,” said Nizam in his retort against Warisan information chief Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman, who alleged Gagasan leaders would abandon Anwar if another federal political crisis hits the country.
Yesterday, Azis pointed to the series of resignations staged by Gagasan leaders led by Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor in the aftermath of GE14. Warisan had suffered a string of blows following the departure of its assemblymen and grassroots members.
The party used to have the largest pool of assemblymen, but is now left with only 14 state representatives, from 21 previously.
Most of those who left had given their support to the ruling GRS bloc, with some applying to join Gagasan.
Azis said Gagasan leaders had switched from Umno to Bersatu and now to Gagasan, and that these leaders will abandon Anwar if another political crisis were to happen in the future.
Nizam said Azis’ statements were aimed to cover Warisan’s own mistakes for cutting ties with PH, and in doing so decided to blame its political rivals with his self-created wild allegations.
Nizam said the grassroots leaders and assemblymen who left Warisan were only trying to “move on” and the same was with PH leaders who learned of the party’s sincerity when cooperating together in the previous Warisan-led Sabah government.
Towards this end, he also said that Azis’ assumed Gagasan plan to betray Anwar and PH never arose, but pointed out the attempted coup last January 6 masterminded by Warisan was the party’s move to form a backdoor government.
The coup saw Sabah PH’s seven assemblymen, along with five Umno representatives, become kingmakers for GRS-chairman Hajiji to remain chief minister.
Hajiji would later take over Gagasan, with Nizam named the party’s information chief.
Nizam made no further comment on the failed coup but clearly referred to the Sheraton Move in 2020 that saw the fall of the PH federal government after only 22 months in power. – The Vibes, March 7, 2023
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