Having another party in Sabah would further divide Kadazandusun Murut communities, says Shafie

KOTA KINABALU: The move to set up yet another party in Sabah will further divide the already divided Kadazandusun Murut (KDM) communities here, says Parti Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

He said Datuk Peter Anthony’s move to quit Warisan to form a government-aligned party would bring more disunity.

“The sad part is, this will divide more of the KDMs, that is for sure because the KDMs are already very divided,” he said.

He said while he did not want to talk about Peter as he understood that Peter had some problems of his own, Warisan was a party that aims to unite all Malaysians.

“That is why from day one, I asked Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Sabah STAR’s Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan to work with us,” Shafie said during a press conference here Friday (Jan 7).

PBS and Sabah STAR are among the KDM-based parties in the state.

He said Peter’s resignation from Warisan would not split the KDM support too much within the party because there are many native leaders still going strong and holding fort in the party.

“Of course that was our biggest link before but by the thousands here, we have supporters from Nabawan, Kota Marudu, Keningau, Ranau, Kota Belud and many more,” Shafie said.

He said in terms of numbers, Warisan was still the biggest locally-based party in Sabah whereas the others like Umno, PBS or Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia were not.

On matters of Warisan not wanting to work with other peninsula-based parties in the country, he said it was already something that he had seen and tested.

Shafie said he had been working in Umno for decades.

“There is no question of not working with them. After working with Barisan, I see the failure is there, we moved out and worked with Pakatan Harapan,” he said.

“So I’ve done so much efforts working with Pakatan, with Barisan and now we decided to work with Malaysians, and not a single party,” he said.

However, Shafie said he is closely working with the recently registered Muda led by Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman as part of his effort to regenerate the party as well as to create younger leaders.

He said for some to ask Sabah to follow in Sarawak’s take on its governance, he said Sabah is different from Sarawak, as Sarawak had always been governed by its own local party.

“If you want to follow in Sarawak’s footsteps, then do not work with Barisan, PAS or Bersatu,” he said.

Apart from Peter, Limbahau assemblyman Datuk Juil Nuatim had also quit the party on Dec 28 last year, prompting many others including division leaders and members from Sepanggar, Tenom, Matunggong and Keningau to follow in their footsteps.