KOTA KINABALU – Warisan strongly denied being at fault for Sulu’s claim on Sabah, as claimed by former foreign minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman.
Warisan Youth chief Datuk Azis Jamman stressed in a statement today that the party’s president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal had never recognised (acknowledged) Sulu’s claim.
“Instead, Shafie (when he was the chief minister of Sabah) had issued a statement to instruct Putrajaya to take the Philippines’ claim seriously.
“Does (Shafie) stating that Putrajaya needs to have a diplomatic discussion with the Philippines government and urge the Philippines to drop the claim means that Shafie recognises Sulu’s claim?
“The fact is, the state government does not have the diplomatic power to handle issues relating to two countries; it is a diplomatic matter for the federal government.
“The ‘diplomatic discussion’ here means that Putrajaya and the Philippines’ embassy need to sit together and solve the issue pertaining to the claim.
“Datuk Seri Anifah Aman is manipulating the word ‘discussion’ to blame Shafie,” Azis said.
He explained that the word “discussion” in Shafie’s statement does not mean to recognise or acknowledge, but rather that two countries are meeting and solving issues.
The Sepanggar MP said Anifah may not even realise that he was “willing to do anything to blame others”.
Furthermore, he pointed out that the Parti Cinta Sabah president needs to understand that the words “discussion” and “recognition” are different words with different meanings.
“For example, when Ukraine invites Russia for a discussion, does it mean that Ukraine recognises Russia’s colonisation? Of course not.
“It is because solving a conflict can only be done through the process of discussion by sitting together face-to-face with the hope that the issue can be solved.
“It is the same in the context of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and the Philippines,” he said.
Azis also said that Anifah was the one who had failed to solve the issue of the Philippines’ claim on Sabah when he was the foreign minister from 2009 to 2018.
On Sunday, Anifah had said in a statement that Sulu’s claim on Sabah resurfaced because the chief minister in 2018, Shafie, was inexperienced in international diplomatic matters.
He said that Shafie wanting to discuss and negotiate with the descendants of the Sulu sultanate showed that he acknowledged Sulu’s claim, which had given them the courage to make the claim again now.
“When I was the foreign minister, the Philippines never insisted on the claim like now. I blame Shafie for being inexperienced in handling this baseless claim,” he said. – The Vibes, March 14, 2022
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