Sabah Pakatan slams Shafie over claims leaders did nothing on state rights

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Pakatan Harapan leaders hit back at their one-time ally Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal for accusing the coalition of doing nothing to help get back state rights in the two years in power.

Sabah DAP, Sabah PKR and local based Upko leaders slammed his claims as "baseless and unfair" in separate statements where some had accused him of panicking over his own failure as chief minister.

All the leaders were also curious why Shafie did not name Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who was the then Pakatan prime minister (2018) for failing to deliver promised state rights.

During a meet-the-people session in Sandakan on Saturday (Oct 1), Shafie said there was no point supporting the national opposition parties in the state as they had failed to deliver the promises for Sabah when Pakatan was in government.

"I am deeply disappointed and also disgusted by Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal's baseless remarks to justify his departure from partnership with Pakatan and going solo in the next general election," Sabah DAP chairman Datuk Frankie Poon said.

"It is shocking to witness that he is willing to stoop so low to accusing former allies from Sabah DAP and PKR that were sincere to help and campaign for him at all costs.

"Shafie's baseless allegations to gain him cheap publicity is truly a pathetic attempt," Poon said in his statement Sunday (Oct 2).

Poon accused Warisan of becoming a "Trojan Horse" aimed at splitting votes in the upcoming elections that would put Barisan Nasional and Umno in advantage.

Poon said Shafie's attempt was to mislead the public and it "shows how shameless and desperate he is now”.

Poon said DAP had been consistently advocating for a united opposition front to go against Barisan and Perikatan Nasional in the upcoming elections.

"It is disappointing to see that Shafie is not only now betraying former allies, but also going to an extreme extent to attack DAP with such statements.

"Is this not only beneficial to Barisan and Perikatan?" he said in asking Shafie why he has not blamed Dr Mahathir for failing to get back Sabah rights.

"Warisan is now similar to Pejuang and GTA (Gerakan Tanah Air), they are willing to go populist to stay relevant.

"Warisan is also extremely similar to PAS now, playing the 'semua salah DAP' (all DAP’s fault) card to gain political mileage. The people will not be easily fooled," Poon said.

PKR deputy information chief Razeef Rakimin said that Shafie's claims showed that he was panicking and started to point fingers at others to cover his own failings.

"Shafie seems to have forgotten that he was chief minister (in the Warisan Plus government) who sat on the special committee on Sabah and Sarawak rights," he said.

He instead blames leaders - PKR Datuk Christina Liew, DAP’s Phoong Jin Zhe and Chan Fong Hin) as well as Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Guan Eng - for not resolving Sabah issues.

"What did he (Shafie) do when he was chief minister? He must look in the mirror before accusing others," he said.

Incoming Upko president Datuk Ewon Benedick, who was a minister in Shafie's Cabinet, also came to the defence of former state Cabinet colleagues under the then Warisan-Pakatan-Upko government.

"To me, it is just unfair to put the blame on Cabinet members who have only party platforms, but not on government official avenues," he said, adding that Shafie as chief minister had all official platforms to tackle state rights.