PCS: Warisan's 'greed' detrimental to opposition chances in GE14

Shalmon Sanangan claims Warisan is heavily supported by Sabah’s “new citizens” of mainly Filipino and Indonesian descent.

KOTA KINABALU - Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) has accused Parti Warisan Sabah of seeking dominance in an opposition electoral pact to take on Barisan Nasional (BN) in the coming general election (GE14) and warns this objective can lead to power abuse.

PCS acting youth chief Shalmon Sanangan said Warisan’s “greed” will be the downfall of the opposition in GE14.

Speaking to FMT today, Shalmon revealed that he was told Warisan has done a deal with Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH) to contest in 42 of the 60 state seats.

This move is against the spirit of power sharing and will only lead to power abuse if the opposition wrested the state government from the BN, he said.

He alleged Warisan has the support of “instant citizens” from the Philippines and Indonesia who were given Malaysian MyKads in the past 30 years and now outnumbered the indigenous people.

Shalmon said the “real Sabahans” should be concerned especially when Warisan insisted on absolute power to determine state policies.

Backed by these new citizens, he said it is not impossible that in order to stay in power, Warisan will draft policies to benefit and protect its main supporters.

He said this was proven by a video on social media which showed Warisan Youth chief Azis Jamman declaring that the next election belongs to the Bajau Suluk, the predominant community in Sabah’s east coast where Warisan president Shafie Apdal has his political base.

Shalmon said the proclamation hurt the feelings of Kadazandusun Murut (KDM) people and the Chinese.

“This kind of talk should not be encouraged especially when the Tanduo incident is still fresh in the minds of the locals.

“This is why we in PCS urge the KDM people to think about this deeply. This is not racism but we have to safeguard what is rightfully ours without fear.

“We want a balanced government and are totally against a single party dominating the government after the election,” he said.

The Tanduo incident refers to the 2013 landing in Lahad Datu of about 200 armed intruders from the Philippines who attempted to enforce a claim to parts of Sabah for the former Sulu sultanate.

Most of them were eventually captured after a battle with Malaysian security forces that left dozens of people dead on both sides.

Shalmon also accused Shafie of trying to split opposition votes in KDM and Chinese-majority constituencies by announcing that Warisan would contest in these seats.

Shalmon pointed out that most KDM and Chinese-majority areas in the state are already pro-opposition while Umno remains strong in the Sabah east coast.

“Shafie should focus his time and energy on the east coast. But his intention to contest in KDM and Chinese-majority seats has raised questions of his true motivation because doing so would only split opposition votes.

“It must be noted that Shafie, during his time in the government, never once defended the sovereignty of the country by protesting the illegal distribution of MyKad to migrants,” he said.

Shafie was the minister of rural and regional development and a vice-president of Umno but left the party after falling out with Prime Minister Najib Razak over the 1MDB issue. He formed Warisan in 2016 by taking over an existing local party and changing its name.

Warisan positions itself as a multiracial party and its top hierarchy has leaders from different ethnic groups in Sabah.