Kota Kinabalu: Sabahans want political stability and progress, but want it delivered by Sabah-based parties only.
This was the message from Warisan President Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal during a Majlis Bersama Rakyat in Kolombong, here, Wednesday.
“Why do we want autonomy over Sabah? Because this is our state. This is our voice and these are our seats. We can work with Kuala Lumpur, but let us, the Sabah-based parties, govern ourselves for the good of Sabah and the country,” he said.
“We formed a country, Malaysia. We are equal partners. But are we treated like equal partners? That is the big question for Sabah.
“Peninsular Malaysia has over 400 seats. But do you see Warisan in the peninsula? No. When Warisan stood for elections in the peninsula, they said we were disturbing, that we had no place there.
“In Sabah, we have only 73 seats, yet peninsula-based parties still come to take our seats when they already have over 400 seats there,” he said.
He also hit back at rival parties using racial sentiments to attack Warisan, calling it a cheap trick by those who have no real solutions for Sabah’s problems.
“My goal has always been to unite Sabahans under one banner to fight for Sabah’s rights.
“My intention is to ensure we can unite Sabah and bring progress to Sabah under a Sabah-based party. Is that wrong? I was Minister of Unity in Malaysia for years,” he said.
“They (rival parties) do not have any points anyway,” said the former Chief Minister, contrasting his 20 months governing Sabah during the Covid-19 pandemic with the current government’s five years in power.
“My main job back then was keeping people alive during Covid-19 lockdowns,” he said.
“During Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor’s time, there was no Covid, there was no lockdown,” he said, adding that despite having plenty of time and money, current leaders have failed to fix Sabah’s basic problems.
He also raised questions about how the state government is handling public money, especially the RM900 million bond used to pay off the debts of Sabah International Petroleum (SIP), a private company.
“The bond has become the government’s debt. You use the money to pay the debts of a Sendirian Berhad. There is no difference from the 1MDB case,” he claimed, comparing it to the nation’s biggest RM4.2 billion corruption scandal.
“You could have used the RM900 million to resolve the water problem in Sabah,” he said.
Shafie also said that asking for Sabah’s rights under the constitution is not begging for extras from the federal government.
“This is our (Sabah’s) money. Is it wrong under the law to ask for our rights? We are not asking for more than what belongs to us,” he said.