‘Muhyiddin wants to be PM again’, claims Shafie

KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal claims that Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had called him two months ago to get his backing to become prime minister again.

The Parti Warisan president said Muhyiddin had told him that he had the backing of 119 MPs in the 222-member Dewan Rakyat.

The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president, Shafie added, had further claimed that he had discussed the matter with PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was agreeable to supporting Muhyiddin.

Both Warisan and PKR are Opposition parties.

“I told him (Muhyiddin) if you have the numbers, you go ahead, I won’t follow you,” Shafie told the crowd yesterday in Libaran, once a stronghold of his political nemesis Tan Sri Musa Aman, a former Sabah chief minister under Barisan Nasional.

Wading into the recent resignation of Ampang MP Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin from Bersatu, Shafie said it was a clear example that coalitions were not working in Malaysia as they usually ended up squabbling.

As speculated for months, Zuraida, who is Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, is joining the new Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM).

A former PKR vice-president, she was among 10 PKR MPs who defected to Bersatu under the Sheraton Move in 2020 that triggered the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.

Shafie said the so-called coalitions in place did not bring stability to the nation and reflected a leadership crisis.

“These coalitions are being formed and keep changing every time someone pulls the plug on the group, on the basis of race or religion or whatever is convenient.

“They stab here and there, and party hopping has become normal,” he said.

He noted that democratic countries like the United Kingdom and United States did not have coalitions ahead of elections.

“Zuraida is joining PBM. It is as if Bersatu is not ‘bersatu’ (united) enough for her. Does it mean that PBM is more united than Bersatu?” he said.

Shafie observed that immediately upon her resignation announcement, Muhyiddin had declared that the Ampang parliamentary seat belonged to Bersatu.

“They are now fighting over a seat,” he said, adding that it was a clear sign of instability.

Shafie reiterated that Warisan, as a multiracial party, was not planning to form a pact with its former partner Pakatan as he said it forced Sabah-based parties to give way in contesting many of the 25 parliamentary seats in the state.

“A local party must have more MPs in Parliament; if not, it would be disadvantageous to the state,” he added.

He also slammed the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah coalition, saying that leaders like Usno president Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, Parti Bersatu Sabah president Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili and Sabah STAR president Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan had been political rivals who would eventually have axes to grind among themselves.

“They have all fought each other in the past, now they are sitting together. How can we trust this kind of coalition?” he said.