TAWAU: Parti Warisan has identified racial and religious differences as key factors hindering Sabah’s social and economic development.
Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal says that when parties were united in Sabah, they formed a strong force but added that racial and religious tensions emerged in the early 1970s which fractured political parties and led to problems.
He said that greed and conflicts over race and religion had sidelined crucial state rights and issues, including the economy and education, affecting the people of Sabah.
"Warisan does not want to use issues of race and religion to fight," he said, explaining why the party chose to be multi-racial and not focus solely on race and religion as its political message.
Shafie made these comments while officiating at the seventh Parti Warisan annual general meeting in Tawau on Sunday (Dec 1).
He said that if political parties cannot unite, as was the case with the once cohesive Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) which fragmented into parties like PBRS, Upko, SAPP and the now-defunct Akar, there is no basis to discuss 'local parties'.
He noted that PBS had been the state government for about 10 years before its members and leaders split to form other parties, as seen today.
"So, what unity and local-based parties are they talking about when they themselves are not united," Shafie asked, adding that this disunity allowed non-Sabahan parties like Barisan Nasional to establish a presence in the state.
He then said that Sabah's current challenges to this kind of disunity are rooted in greed and power struggles.
While Warisan is a multi-racial party serving all Sabahans, he clarified that this does not mean they are unwilling to collaborate with others, given that Sabah has only 25 MPs and Sarawak 31.
"Therefore, we must still work with the majority to continue to push for Sabah rights," Shafie said.
The former chief minister remarked that disunity prevents the achievement of many visions.
"We unite to fight for the people of Sabah, to have our rights respected and returned, not to become candidates, not for our own political or wealth gains and not for our personal benefits," he said.
Shafie added that political cultures from other states, especially from the peninsular, should not be introduced or practised in Sabah.
"We want all races to unite," he said.
Earlier in the event, he mentioned the party's plans to improve infrastructure such as water, power and roads, boost economic growth, invest in renewable energy and revive the state Education and Health ministries if it returns to power.
The programme later saw hundreds of new members joining the party, including divisions from Umno and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).
