Warisan spreads its wings to Peninsular Malaysia

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan Sabah is set to become a national party as the party delegates endorsed its move to spread its wings to Peninsular Malaysia.

The party will be known as “Warisan” only and would not be using its previous name “Warisan Sabah, ” party president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal said.

He said that there was no need to amend the party constitution to change its name as the party constitution already provided for it to be known as “Warisan or Warisan Sabah”.

“We will call ourselves as Warisan from now on, ” he said.

Speaking to reporters after the party’s annual general meeting, he said that the party constitution approved by the Registrar of Societies allowed for them to set up divisions and branches in Peninsular Malaysia.

The party symbol is recognised by the Election Commission and the party can contest in elections using their symbol in the country.

Shafie, who took over Warisan after being suspended by Umno in 2016, said that the party would serve nearly 300,000 Sabahans currently in the peninsula.

He added that the party was also open to take in Peninsular Malaysians who are interested in the party’s ideology.

“It is nothing unusual, ” he said, adding that Parti Bersatu Sabah and Upko, which had extended their wings to Peninsular Malaysia, even contested in some seats during elections in Perak and Penang previously.

“I don’t know, ” he said when asked if any MPs or leaders from Peninsular Malaysia were keen to join Warisan.

However, he said they had some leaders in Peninsular Malaysia who have talked to him about spreading the party to the west.

He said that they would focus their divisions or branches in Selangor and Johor among other areas where there was a concentration of Sabahans working or settled there.

Earlier in his speech at the annual general meeting held via Zoom conferencing, Shafie said spreading the party’s wings to Peninsular Malaysia would allow for Borneo states to work on becoming part of the nation’s decision-making power.

“We must be brave. We must chart the way forward, ” Shafie told delegates meeting for the first time after the party lost power in the state to the federal-backed Gabungan Rakyat Sabah in the Sept 26 state election.

Earlier, the party’s Wanita, Wira (youth) and Wirawati (young women) wings passed resolutions for the party’s main body to spread its wings to Peninsular Malaysia.