Shafie claims GRS fishing for Warisan elected reps

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan Sabah elected representatives are allegedly being enticed with lucrative deals to leave, says Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (pic).

Shafie claimed that his assemblymen had been reporting that certain people were trying to lure Warisan assemblymen over with offers of positions and other sweeteners.

"We are strongly against the culture of political hopping with the use of money and position to lure assemblymen," he said after meeting with Warisan division chiefs and assemblymen at the party headquarters here.

However, Shafie said that he was confident that the remaining 20 assemblymen and eight MPs were with the party and would not bite the bait by the agents of the GRS link government.

Shafie also dismissed insinuations by Dr Yusof that he (Shafie) had given him the blessing to leave the party.

"His resignation came as a surprise to me," he said, adding that Dr Yacob has yet to officially tender his resignation to the party and his intentions were only known through his announcement in a media press conference on Friday (Oct 8).

However, he said that Warisan will be taking legal action against Dr Yusof for breaching his oath promising to vacate the seat if he left the party through a pre-signed letter prior to the Sept 26, 2020 state election.

"We will take legal action as we did in the case of Sebatik assemblyman (Gani A Pg Hassan who quit in Feb this year to join Bersatu)," he said.

Shafie added that politics should be set aside and the focus must be on the country's pandemic and economic recovery.

He said though Warisan sits in the opposition at both the federal and state level, it has not stopped them from discussing matters with the Prime Minister and also Law Minister Wan Junaidi Tuaku Jaafar on Sabah issues like Malaysia Agreement 1963 and matters that needed to be resolved quickly.

"Our focus is the interest of the people, the state and the nation," he said, adding that sitting in the opposition would not stop any of them from serving the people's interest.