Kota Kinabalu: Parti Warisan remains firm in contesting the coming state election on its own, despite political shifts. Its President Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal reiterated that the party will contest all 73 seats, rejecting talk about working with other parties.
“Our position is very clear, we will go solo in all 73 seats and have decided to work directly with the people of Sabah, with the voters,” he told a media conference at the party’s office in Kolombong, Thursday.
Shafie called out other political parties for caring more about winning seats and becoming ministers than helping the people.
“Even now they cannot come to an agreement among themselves, some want 15 seats, some want 20, 30 or even 50. After getting seats, they want to be ministers.
After becoming ministers, they look for projects. We do not know what their real goals are.
“But if we work with the people, it is clear what they (the people) want. They want clean water supply not just in Banggi, Semporna or Long Pasia, but all four million Sabahans want sufficient clean water, electricity and good roads, not expensive licence plates like the SMJ1 car plate that costs millions,” he added.
Shafie also hit out at the GRS government for blaming Warisan for the State’s current problems, even though GRS has been in control of state affairs and managing a budget of RM6.7 billion this year.
He accused GRS of constantly pointing fingers at Warisan and himself for every issue.
“How could Warisan be at fault when GRS has been running Sabah for five years and controls both the money and government departments,” he said.
Shafie said whenever something goes wrong, whether it is water supply failures, potholes on roads or broken streetlights, the GRS blames Warisan instead of taking responsibility.
“This is called denial syndrome,” he said.
He also defended his decision to terminate a lopsided water concession agreement during his tenure as Chief Minister.
“The concessionaire was getting more than RM100 million, almost RM200 million. But when there were water leaks and problems, the State Government had to pay.
“That is why I told the state legal adviser, if they (concessions) want to go to court, let’s go to court. But what did GRS do? They settled and paid RM320 million. Why pay RM320 million? Take it to court and challenge whether the agreement was proper and whether they (companies) fulfilled their responsibilities properly,” he said.
“Today we see pipes from the Water Department with no water supply. But you can buy water from water tankers. Where do they get this water from? Again the blame is pointed at me. They are the ones at fault, but I am the one being accused. They take the money, but I am the one blamed,” Shafie said.
He is confident Warisan can provide better solutions than the current Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government in solving Sabah’s long-standing problems.
“Sabah has been struggling with problems for far too long, from basic facilities like water and electricity to schools and other infrastructure,” he said.
He admitted that while fixing these problems will take time, his party is determined to deliver results on important issues affecting Sabah’s four million people.
“I am confident that given some time, we can fix these problems. Give us the full five years. Do not let our assemblymen be bought over and switch parties, which would make things harder,” he said.
With the anti-party hopping law now in effect and strict rules in Warisan’s party constitution, Shafie is confident that elected representatives will stay loyal to the party’s goal of serving the people.
“We need to think about the future of Sabah’s people. They are facing many problems from water supply, electricity, jobs, high prices, bad roads, hospitals that lack facilities, schools still made of wood and school toilets without water.
“What matters to us is to present our plans to solve these problems. I am not making empty promises, I am speaking from 30 years of experience serving the country across seven different ministries,” he said.