Opposition parties at odds

IS the honeymoon between DAP and Parti Warisan officially over?

The romance began when Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal formed Parti Warisan in October 2016 after quitting Umno a few months earlier. DAP’s Likas assemblyman Datuk Junz Wong joined Warisan as a vice-president – but DAP ignored the little hiccup and established an alliance with the Sabah-based party.

After several Barisan Nasional assemblymen hopped to topple Tan Sri Musa Aman’s two-day-old Sabah state government after the country’s historic 14th General Election (GE14), DAP became a part of the Warisan-Plus government in Sabah, with Shafie as Chief Minister.

DAP seemed to be thoroughy in love with Warisan, especially with Shafie and his party’s slogan, “In God we trust, unite we must”, ignoring the fact that Shafie was a former Umno vice-president and had the Umno DNA of Malay/Muslim politics.

Some of DAP’s leaders, especially its female MPs in awe of the Semporna MP’s multiracial platform, wore T-shirts plastered with Shafie’s face.

Even after Warisan-Plus lost the Sabah government in a snap state poll in 2020, DAP remained faithful, backing Shafie on and off as Pakatan Harapan’s choice as prime minister instead of Pakatan chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is PKR president.

But now, DAP is at war with Warisan after Shafie officially launched his party in Peninsular Malaysia on Dec 17 last year. To indicate that the party had gone national, it changed its name from Parti Warisan Sabah to Parti Warisan.

Warisan’s move meant that it would now take on Pakatan in Peninsular Malaysia and in its home base of Sabah.

Warisan accepted a former DAP assemblyman, Brian Lai, into its ranks on Jan 22. The Teratai representative became the party’s first lawmaker in the peninsula. Warisan also accepted into its ranks DAP leaders such as former two-term Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi and former Penang executive councillor Danny Law.

And the party contested against Pakatan, including DAP, in six seats in the 2022 Johor polls.

Two DAP leaders in Sabah – Elopura assemblyman Calvin Chong and Sri Tanjong assemblyman Justin Wong – jumped over to Warisan on March 26.

It is clear that in GE15, Warisan will stand on its own to take on Pakatan, Barisan, Perikatan Nasional and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah.

(Pakatan comprises PKR, DAP, Parti Amanah and Upko; Barisan comprises Umno, MCA, MIC and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah; Perikatan is made up of Bersatu, PAS, Gerakan and two parties –Sabah Star and SAPP – which make up Gabungan Rakyat Sabah, or GRS. GRS also includes Parti Bersatu Sabah, Usno and the Sabah chapter of Bersatu.)

DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke has said that a collaboration with Warisan in the next general election is unlikely due to the cold reception from the Sabah-based party. Shafie, meanwhile, is on record as saying on June 26 that Warisan is willing to work with whoever wins in GE15. Translated: there is a possibility that Warisan would be part of an Umno-led government if Barisan wins big.

Those in the Opposition crowd, who were in awe of Warisan when Shafie was Pakatan’s on-and-off candidate for PM, were disappointed to hear that Warisan would back any winner of GE15. They have called Warisan unprincipled for being willing to potentially work with the enemy. They were also unhappy that Warisan is contesting in Peninsular Malaysia as it would split the Pakatan votes.

In explaining the party’s actions, a Warisan insider said DAP and PKR worked with PAS, Bersatu and Umno to sign a memorandum of understanding to keep Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on as Prime Minister, and Opposition supporters still see Pakatan as an alliance with principle.

“Pakatan can ‘sleep’ with anyone, and they are considered to be principled. But if we work with, say, the possible winner of GE15, which might be Umno, then we are unprincipled,” he said.

“And if Warisan contests in the peninsula, we are said to be splitting the Opposition votes. But how about DAP and PKR contesting in Sabah? Aren’t they splitting the Opposition votes in my state?”

The Warisan insider went on to explain why his party had given up on Pakatan.

“We worked with Pakatan in GE14. What has Pakatan done with the 20% oil royalty it promised Sabahans if it won the Federal Government? Pakatan did not fulfil that promise when it was in government,” he said.

When Pakatan was in government from 2018 to 2020, Warisan MPs were part of the Cabinet. And they have privately told me that they were frustrated with Lim Guan Eng, the then finance minister and DAP secretary-general, for being tight-fisted with funds promised to the Sabah government.

Based on its performance during the Johor state elections, where it lost its deposit in all the six seats it contested in, Warisan is unlikely to put a dent in Pakatan support in Peninsular Malaysia. But Warisan can cost PKR and DAP seats in Sabah.

Possibly, it will be Warisan and its splinter party, Parti Kesejah-teraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM), and not the government coalitions that will wipe out DAP in the state.

In Sabah, DAP has three MP seats: Tenom, Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu. DAP won the Tenom seat with the assistance of former Warisan vice-president Datuk Peter Anthony, now president of KDM. Without KDM or Warisan’s support, DAP would lose the Murut-majority seat in the interior of Sabah.

Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan have long been voting for the Opposition. The question now is which Opposition party, Warisan or DAP, will they support in GE15?

The same question will be raised in parliamentary seats with mixed demographics that Warisan won in GE14. The Penampang and Sepanggar voters must decide whether they will vote for Warisan or Pakatan.

I asked a DAP leader why Warisan refused to work on an electoral understanding with Pakatan in Sabah. He said it is because Shafie is thinking of the numbers.

“The more parliamentary seats Warisan wins, the better Shafie’s chances of negotiating for plum Cabinet posts for the party. If Warisan goes against Pakatan, it can contest and possiblilty win four more seats in Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tenom and Tawau (which is a PKR seat),” he said.

The Warisan and DAP honeymoon was over when Shafie thought that it was better for Warisan to go solo in GE15.

Wonder what those DAP MPs will do with their Shafie T-shirts now?