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KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Pakatan Harapan is unlikely to see an electoral alliance with one-time ally Parti Warisan in the coming state election, says PKR deputy information chief Razeef Rakimin (pic).
He said past experience with Warisan had left a "bitter taste", and it was difficult for PKR and Pakatan to work again with Warisan led by Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
Razeef also accused Warisan of holding an air of "ego and arrogance" that made it difficult, if not impossible, for Pakatan to work with Warisan again.
In the 2018 general election, Pakatan forged an electoral pact with Warisan that saw the coalition toppling the Sabah Barisan Nasional government led by Tun Musa Aman.
However, the Warisan-Pakatan state government collapsed after the Perikatan Nasional-Barisan Nasional team-up defeated them under the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah coalition in the Sept 2020 snap state election.
Relations between Warisan and Pakatan went downhill over trust issues between the leaders, which saw Warisan contesting the Nov 2022 general election on its own.
Following the national election results, Warisan supported the formation of the Unity government led by PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. However, Warisan opposed the GRS state government of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
Sabah Pakatan assemblymen backed Hajiji after Sabah Barisan chairman Datuk Bung Moktar Radin pulled out his support for GRS in a bid to topple Hajiji's government in Jan 2023.
Bung was looking at forming a state coalition government with Warisan and Pakatan at the state level in line with the unity government being formed at the federal level. However, the move failed after Sabah Pakatan and Sabah Umno renegade assemblymen backed Hajiji.
Razeef said that the previous experience of working with Warisan had taught Pakatan to be more careful in establishing cooperation.
Furthermore, he said that Warisan's political agenda of "Sabah for Sabahans" was unsuitable for Pakatan as a partner in the coming state election.
He asked why Warisan contests seats in Peninsular Malaysia if it claims to be a locally based party.
"In fact, the chant of 'Unity' by Warisan only divides people. So, Pakatan does not see Warisan as a completely transparent party," Razeef said that Sabah Pakatan remains cautious when it comes to cooperation.
"We don't want to be hasty because Pakatan has been trampled on several times. We can't be in a hurry because maybe the current cooperation is suitable but, if our friends have problems in the future, we can make other choices.
"We want to be more careful, and of course, whoever gives the best offer will be considered a cooperation partner," he said.
He said they have held informal meetings with Sabah Barisan and GRS so far, but nothing has been agreed formally.
Sabah election should be held by September this year with major political coalitions -GRS, Pakatan and Barisan - have made their stands on possible cooperation with locally based parties like Warisan and Parti KDM, among a dozen other little-known parties.
