Warisan treasurer-general Terrence Siambun said it was pointless to debate further on the 27 supply bills at the committee stage when Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders themselves had already agreed to allow the budget to pass on Nov 26.
“Boo should instead pose the question to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim as to why he failed to perform his fiduciary duty to object to the budget last week.
“What is the point of going through the committee stage debate anymore if the policies in the budget, which were deemed as disadvantageous to Sabahans by Boo, had been approved by Anwar in the first place?
“So if Anwar has solid and convincing support from the government MPs, he does not need the eight Warisan MPs to defeat any of the 27 supply bills at the committee stage,” Siambun said in a statement today.
Yesterday, Boo said Sabahans had voted for Warisan to represent them in Parliament and that the party was not elected just to vent personal grudges against a single leader or PH itself.
“You should be making your stand against anything in the Supply Bill 2021 that is deemed disadvantageous to Sabah,” he said on his Facebook page.
Boo added that the Warisan MPs had failed taxpayers by not voting against the budgets for the Prime Minister’s Department and finance ministry which were passed on Monday in the Dewan Rakyat by slim majorities in a bloc vote.
Meanwhile, Siambun said it was high time for politicians from Sabah to strive for the unity of the nation for the sake of economic prosperity and not allow themselves to be used politically for the personal interests of others.
He said prior to the tabling of the budget, it was widely politicised that the budget was not a means to help Malaysians but as a test of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s leadership and Anwar’s opportunity to seize power by defeating the budget.
“So the gist of (Labuan MP and Warisan whip) Rozman Isli’s contention is that after Anwar’s blunder on Nov 26, it doesn’t make sense at all for the Warisan MPs to allow the party to be used just because we are sitting in the opposition block together with PH,” he said.
He added that this was regardless of whatever tactical strategy Anwar may now have in his mind for the committee stage debate.
“We have seen how Sabahan Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional political leaders are pressured by their Malayan political leaders just to ensure that the latter will maintain power at the federal level.
“And it seems to me that Boo has this same mindset too. He is pressuring the eight Warisan MPs into submission by using Sabah and the role of elected representatives as points in his argument,” Siambun said.
He also reminded Boo that Warisan had fought against BN and Umno in the past and won because “we held our heads high”.
“I don’t think we are ready to submit to Anwar who is the opposition chief at this moment,” he said.
He added that it was rather simplistic for Boo to conclude that the Warisan MPs failed to protect Sabah’s interests as elected representatives.
“Almost all of the Warisan MPs gave their input on the budget tabled by the finance minister by speaking up in the Dewan Rakyat, and this was aired live.
“Numerous inputs had been given, such as on the state of infrastructure, health, education, economy, Covid-19, employment, and so on. They also attended their respective question and answer sessions with the ministers.
“So how could Boo ask Warisan MPs to apologise to Sabahans just because they do not want to deliver the numbers at the committee stage that Anwar needed?”