KOTA KINABALU – Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal has a bone to pick with the Registrar of Societies (RoS), claiming that his party had been treated unfairly following the rejection of its postponement application.
He said RoS had allowed other political parties to postpone their annual assemblies but rejected Warisan’s bid to postpone its assembly on May 26.
“RoS has given its approval and was lenient with other parties, but not us. There must be fairness in implementation,” he said at a press conference here today.
“The party is ready (to conduct the assembly and election), but we just want to be more focused,” he said, adding that meetings by the party branches, divisions, and wings will be done by July.
There had been concerns among Warisan members that the party might split or face some issue should internal polls be held soon.
Shafie did not name the parties he was referring to, but RoS had allowed Umno to hold its AGM on a later date. Opposition parties DAP and PKR were also allowed to postpone theirs previously, but have held party elections in recent months.
Despite that, he said Warisan will heed RoS’ orders and hold its AGM and election in August, pending a second appeal on the postponement that will be filed.
Meanwhile, Shafie reiterated that there was no need for the “big tent” concept, saying parties are constantly forced to do away with party goals to maintain harmony in an alliance.
He said he had experienced this when he was in Umno and Barisan Nasional, and later when Warisan was with Pakatan Harapan.
“This is why we want to first strengthen our own house. When we allied with others, our walls were stolen, our windows sold. It was even difficult for us to climb our own stairs.”
As for the reintroduction of the goods and services tax (GST), he said it is not the right time for the government to implement it, saying Malaysians remain burdened by the rise of price of goods and unemployment rate.
“When GST was first implemented by Barisan Nasional, the people rejected it. But at the time, the economy was not as bad as it is today. So, imagine reintroducing the tax now?”
The Semporna MP said there are other ways for the government to look for revenue and observe financial prudence, such as cutting down on mega projects and reducing ministerial trips overseas.
“During the financial crisis in the 1990s, our government even printed documents on both sides of paper to save money.” – The Vibes, June 4, 2022
