Ex-Parti Warisan veep to launch Parti KDM in Tenom

KOTA KINABALU: Former Parti Warisan vice-president Datuk Peter Anthony is set to launch his own native based party - Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Malaysia (Parti KDM) in Sabah's interior Tenom district on Friday (Jan 28).

According to a programme shared among Tenom folks, the Melalap assemblyman and Limbahau assemblyman Datuk Juil Nuatim will launch the party at Dewan Sri Antenom.

Anthony, who was Warisan key point man in the interior areas, has picked the party's acronym KDM, which is a common reference to Sabah’s native Kadazandusun and Murut communities.

It is still not clear if the party has been registered with the Registrar of Societies or was a name change to an existing dormant party.

Anthony did not respond to WhatsApp messages on the programme though last week he announced that he would be launching the party on Friday.

The once close friend and trusted lieutenant of Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, Anthony quit Warisan on Dec 28, stating his unhappiness with the party's decision to spread its wings to Peninsular Malaysia, saying that Warisan had diverted from its original goals for Sabah.

He also said that he was forming a multi-racial party to unite Sabahans and work with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah state government led by Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

The 50-year-old Anthony, a businessman turned politician, had also denied claims by Warisan that he left the party due to his ongoing trial over a charge of falsifying a letter from the office of Universiti Malaysia Sabah deputy vice-chancellor for system maintenance contract work at the university in 2014.

Anthony also leads KDM Malaysia, an NGO which many of its members were part of Warisan's native Kadazandusun and Murut members.

It is still not clear how many of the Warisan's members linked to KDM Malaysia had left the party to join Anthony.