Lim said people in Sabah should not be deceived by Shafie’s style of politics, claiming he had “on countless occasions” said one thing but done the opposite.

“It is unbecoming of a president of a party, let alone a (caretaker) chief minister, to threaten his critics with lawsuits instead of answering the allegations levelled against him,” she said in a statement here today.

Lim was referring to Shafie’s latest threat to take legal action against PCS president Anifah Aman and STAR president Jeffrey Kitingan for allegedly saying he was not originally from Sabah.

She said the threat of a lawsuit was contrary to what Shafie had always preached, which was that criticism should be welcomed as it was part of democracy and ensured good governance.

“In fact, when urged to take legal action against the federal government to fight for Sabah’s rights as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the Federal Constitution, Shafie reiterated that he believed in the consultation approach and not confrontation.

“Therefore, Shafie proved himself to be Sabah’s biggest hypocrite when he threatened to sue his critics, namely Anifah and Jeffery, if they continued to level (such) accusations against him.”

During a working trip to the interior Nabawan district last weekend, Shafie said he could take legal action against those claiming he had foreign origins or that Warisan was for illegal immigrants.

Lim said those familiar with the Semporna MP’s politicking style would be aware that it was “a classic Shafie response” to threaten his critics with lawsuits when he found his back to the wall.

Lim also said in 2009, Shafie, then rural and regional development minister, threatened to sue then Batu MP Tian Chua over allegations that Shafie and his associates had received kickbacks from contractors in exchange for contracts.

“At that material time, Shafie denied the allegations, calling them ‘ridiculous and untrue’. But despite all that, he never sued Tian Chua although the allegations were lingering around till the day he was sacked from Umno and linked up with Pakatan Harapan.”

In fact, Shafie had never initiated a suit against any of his critics, she said.

“Shafie, if you fail to sue as promised, then at least respond to the allegations levelled against you and prove them wrong,” she said, saying the failure to sue in previous instances showed that Shafie was just playing up to the crowd to get sympathy.