Mahathir not coming to Sabah to campaign

PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pic) today said he will not be going to Sabah to campaign for Warisan ahead of the state elections.

Calling the state elections on Saturday “undemocratic”, Mahathir said Sabahans had already chosen a government in the 2018 general elections (GE14). “But the federal government led by Perikatan Nasional (PN) wants to steal Sabahans’ choice,” he said in a video message today.

“The prime minister says he loves Sabah. If he loves Sabah, then don’t try and seize the (state) government,” he added.

ADVERTISEMENT

Warning that election activities could worsen the spread of Covid-19 in the state, Mahathir said the state government’s focus should instead be on battling Covid-19 and boosting the faltering economy.

In August, Mahathir promised to go to Sabah for the state elections, stating that he hoped voters would reject the assemblymen who defected from the Warisan-led state government. Sabah MCA treasurer Chin Kim Hiung had questioned Mahathir’s absence from the campaign trail.

ADVERTISEMENT

Pointing out that other federal opposition leaders, such as Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Guan Eng, had shown their support for Warisan Plus by campaigning for them in Sabah, Chin claimed Mahathir might not have followed suit as he was feeling guilty about his “mistreatment” of the state during his two tenures as prime minister.