Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah president Lajim Ukin said just over a year ago, the words “Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63)” and “Sabah for Sabahans” had never passed Shafie’s lips.
He added that the former rural and regional development minister, during his time as Umno vice-president and a senior minister in the cabinet, was not known for his passion for Sabah’s rights.
“He is relatively new as an opposition (politician). His ideas about MA63 and Sabah for Sabahans… all these he copied from Gabungan Sabah.
“I challenge him. If he had not been suspended or removed from the federal cabinet, would he speak about MA63? Would he ever talk about oil and gas in Sabah?”
Lajim, who is also Klias assemblyman, said Shafie had been overconfident of his party’s chances in the coming election when he openly declared that he would not work with the Gabungan Sabah coalition. Lajim’s party is one of the four member parties.
He said Gabungan had invited Shafie for a possible collaboration but it was never entertained.
Instead, he said, Shafie had gone to the Klias constituency five times since 2016, speaking against Lajim in an attempt to win votes there.
“I think it is uncalled for because we all have the same objective – to topple the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
“Shafie should not be trashing other local opposition parties when he supposedly wants to change the government.”
He said the fact that Shafie had told Pakatan Harapan, including DAP, where to contest and where not to, reflected the former Umno vice-president’s egotistical nature and delusions of grandeur on Warisan’s part.
“For a party that has not been tried and tested, they sure talk big. Telling others what to do and what not to do.”
Lajim said Shafie had the chance to prove himself when he was in charge of one of the most powerful portfolios – the rural and regional development ministry.
Between 2009 and 2015, Shafie had RM7.5 billion at his disposal to implement rural road, water and electricity development projects in Sabah.
“If he was so good at helming the ministry then, there would be many positive outcomes from these so-called rural projects for the people.
“Instead, we have electricity poles without cables, water plants and pipes without water, and rural roads built in the middle of nowhere that bring no benefit to the people.”
Meanwhile, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Yong Teck Lee voiced suspicions that Warisan was a proxy for Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s party, PPBM. He said Warisan was also employing the Malayan party’s divide-and-rule tactic.
This was obvious, he said, in Warisan’s strategy of going only to areas where other opposition parties, particularly Gabungan, were already strong, such as in the interior and south-west coast of Sabah.
“The opposition is already strong in these areas, but they came in to weaken the opposition and give BN free rein in the east coast. I don’t hear them having major events there.
“This strategy is very strange. Maybe after spending too much time in the peninsula, Shafie has become used to this mentality of divide-and-conquer.
“Besides, as long as Sabahans are divided, those in the peninsula are happy and Shafie knows this.”