He said the people should therefore stop and ask themselves, what compelled the two men, who had in the past hurled all kinds of allegations against Mahathir to now be willing to work together.
“We humans are not perfect. Each of us has our faults. Mahathir has said sorry and his apology was accepted by Anwar and Lim. We should ask why they accepted this apology.
“Because their desire for change is stronger than their anger. For the sake of the nation, they are willing to set aside the bitter past so that the Malaysian government is replaced for the better,” he said at a meet-the-people event in Kota Belud, about 70 kilometres from here today.
The former rural and regional development minister reminded the people that it was Mahathir who had revived Umno when the party was banned in 1985.
Ironically, he said the person who had resuscitated the party was now working hard to kill it but not with any malicious intent.
Nowadays, he said there were many changes and the ruling BN coalition knows it well especially in the peninsula where support for the opposition meant BN is only the government today because of Sabah and Sarawak.
“Now BN is worried so they try to discredit Mahathir. We know Mahathir is 92-years-old but he has the mental capacity and the experience, both of which would be beneficial to Malaysia.
“He was the man who successfully manoeuvred the country out of the 1997 financial crisis. He knows how to get the country out of trouble and we want this knowledge,” he said.
Shafie who is also Semporna MP said currently, the country was burdened by mounting debts and the government was finding it difficult to service its loans.
This is why, he said the government resorted to introducing GST.
“Warisan will abolish GST if we form the government. There are many other systems we can use to generate revenue for the country. If we can manage the country’s finances properly, we don’t need regressive taxation,” he said.
Commenting on the relationship between Warisan and the Mahathir-led Pakatan Harapan, Shafie reiterated his stand that the party is independent and will not join PH.
He said he had already told Mahathir that his role was to ensure BN is toppled in Sabah while Mahathir’s role was to topple BN in the peninsula.
In fact, he said Mahathir had asked him to become Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) deputy president but he turned it down because he wanted a local-based Sabah party.
“In Sarawak, the majority are local parties to this day. This is what we want. A truly Sabahan party. That is why I have told them, if they come into Sabah, I will fight them,” he said.
Mahathir has been largely blamed for the so-called Project IC which allegedly granted citizenship to immigrants with the issuance of identity cards.
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Don’t go overboard in criticism using illogical figures, Mahathir told