KUALA LUMPUR – After officially announcing the party’s expansion to the peninsula, Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal has confirmed an alliance with Muda led by Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.
However, he said the door remains open for other potential alliances in the future, including with opposition entities like the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim-led Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Pejuang.
“At the moment, our cooperation is with Muda. The rest we have not decided yet,” he told a press conference today. Also present was Syed Saddiq.
“Currently our cooperation is with Muda, and this is the choice we are providing. We want to ensure we can strengthen our own house first before we look at the others,” he said.
“But that doesn’t mean we have closed the door (to others). In politics, anything can happen.”
Warisan is however continuing to cooperate with the other opposition parties in Parliament on matters of interest to the people, and to ensure check and balance.
The Semporna MP and former Sabah chief minister added that for any potential future alliances to happen, the other parties must share the same values as Warisan, to avoid it being tainted with a negative image and perception.
“We don’t want a situation where the other party is carrying ‘Covid-19’, and this virus spreads to us,” he quipped. “We will also lose then. We must be consistent, honest and blunt.
“If we want to bring changes, we must change,” he said, stressing that the party should not seek leeway to avoid change.
“If they (parties) don’t subscribe to that sort of value, we have to look at other (options). We must ensure they are in tandem with our struggles for the people.”
Asked if Warisan will be negotiating with other opposition outfits on seat distribution for the upcoming general election, Shafie said this will “come later”.
Earlier, Shafie had officially announced Warisan’s expansion to the peninsula and said it will be making its debut outside Sabah in the coming general election due by September 2023.
Warisan will offer its president as the “prime minister for all Malaysians”.
The party is positioning itself as a centre-spectrum party, as opposed to “left-wing” PH and “right- wing” BN and PN – as it so claims – and promises to bring a “balanced narrative” and politics of inclusivity.
Warisan was never only for Sabahans
Shafie also rubbished suggestions that Warisan is a party meant only for Sabahans, insisting that it has always been open to all Malaysians, regardless of race.
“In fact, our party was registered in Putrajaya. If parties like Umno, PKR and PAS can enter Sabah to contest, don’t say Warisan cannot contest in the peninsula,” he said.
Shafie said just because the five-year-old party has traditionally only contested in the Borneo state, that did not mean it has not been fighting at the national level. He noted how its members assisted its then PH allies in the peninsula during the 14th general election.
He added that Warisan decided to expand its wings to the peninsula seeing how the crises of leadership, race and religion, health and economy have plagued the nation over the past years.
“We understand there will be obstacles, but we also have the experience. Like me, I was Umno Kedah chief for two years. It (peninsula) is not alien to us.
“We were not born yesterday, deciding to enter the peninsula without knowing the loopholes of the roads,” he said.
On the upcoming general election, Shafie said the party will be pragmatic and not contest in all 222 available parliamentary seats. He said the matter will be deliberated with Muda before a final decision is made.
He added that Warisan has also not yet appointed any division leaders for its peninsular chapter, or candidates for the election.
“The time is not ripe yet. The timing must be right. When you are hungry, then you eat. You don’t take dinner during breakfast,” he said. – The Vibes, December 17, 2021
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