KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan is still holding strong in the Kalabakan constituency despite Kukusan assemblyman Rina Jainal’s departure from the party, says Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
The Warisan president said the people knew that she won the seat based on the hard work of the party’s machinery.
“So we can’t stop her (leaving) but we are still strong in Kalabakan and Tawau, and despite many attempts to weaken Warisan, we remain solid,” he told reporters after the Warisan Kaamatan open house in Kota Belud on Sunday (June 5).
Asked whether legal actions will be taken against her just like former elected reps who left Warisan despite signing letters of allegiance, Shafie said the party plan’s to do the same with Rina.
“Yes, bringing them (those who resigned from the party) to court is part of the agreement, so our course of action will be the same with Rina,” he added.
On another note, Shafie said the country needs to focus on bread and butter issues close to the people’s hearts, and not talk about forming a “big tent” as a political approach.
“The issues of rising prices of goods, education, those are the ones that needed to be solved. Not the interests of parties through coalitions and pacts.
“All this talks on big tent collaboration only see dire matters continuing to remain unsolved and our economy going down,” he said, calling for a drastic change in the next election to reform Malaysia.
Earlier in his speech, Mohd Shafie highlighted the abundance of parties in Sabah, either national based or local ones, which does not help the situation to bring stability.
He said while Sabah is the top oil and gas producing state in Malaysia, eight out of the country's 10 poorest districts are in the state.
“So even with our rich resources of oil, gas and palm oil; the state is still poor.
“What happens when the resources are gone, our reserves finished, even now we are considered a poor (state) ... This is something to think about,” he added.
