Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal. -The Star filepic
KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan Sabah remains open to talks with Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) who unilaterally pulled out of seat negotiations and teamed up with Parti Kerjasama Anak Negeri (Anak Negeri) to open a third opposition front.
Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (pic) said that he would leave it to PCS president Datuk Wilfred Bumburing to decide whether he wanted to continue talks or go on his own way.
“I leave it to them now. There was no engagement, no marriage so how can we divorce now,” Shafie told reporters after a gathering at Sepanggar here Sunday (March 18).
He was responding to the move by non-Muslim bumiputra-based PCS to forge an alliance with Anak Negeri led by Datuk Henrynus Amin on Friday (March 16). They plan to contest 22 to 25 Kadazandusun, Murut, Rungus and mixed state seats.
Shafie denied that he offered PCS six seats to contest in the planned seat arrangement between Warisan, Sabah DAP and Sabah PKR.
“I do not know how he got those number of seats. I spoke to Bumburing about working together to fight Barisan Nasional and he agreed on the need for cooperation," Shafie said.
Surprised by the PCS move, Shafie said that they were still in a discussion stage and there was no agreement reached yet for the number of seats to contest.
Shafie said that no single race-based party could win Sabah and that was why Warisan took the multi-racial platform to ensure all races could be united to take on Barisan.
Warisan has a mix of Muslim bumiputras, non-Muslim bumiputras and Chinese leaders who need to be accommodated to contest various seats.
“What am I to do with my Darell Leiking, my deputy, and Peter Anthony, my vice-president, who are also Kadazandusun and Murut leaders?” he asked, in questioning the PCS' push for the right to contest all non-Muslim bumiputra seats.
“What’s important is to change Barisan and Umno so that the state can be ruled by local parties,” he said, adding that Warisan is also still working out a seat-sharing deal with the other main opposition groups of Sabah Pakatan and the four-party Gabungan Sabah.
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