Shafie, the Warisan president, maintains that the party has always been consistent about fighting for Sabah and is ready to share its vision and mission for Sabahans in the upcoming state election.
“It’s meaningless to be known as a local party by name but our voice is not (outspoken on) local (issues).
“Warisan is a local party,” he stressed in an interview with FMT in response to a claim by former Warisan women’s chief Norazlinah Arif that it has lost that status.
Shafie said the party’s venture into the peninsula was aimed at raising “awareness” among Malaysians about the abilities of Sabah parties beyond the state, which includes expanding its presence to West Malaysia.
The seven-term Semporna MP also pointed out that other Sabah parties like Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) and Upko had also contested in West Malaysia in the past.
“When Warisan contested in the peninsula, some parties there accused us of being disruptive. But when their parties contest in Sabah, it’s not?” he said, accusing certain West Malaysian parties of being hypocritical.
Norazlinah had claimed that Warisan’s chest thumping about being a local Sabah party did not hold water since the party had ventured into Peninsular Malaysia, even fielding candidates there in the 2022 general election (GE15).
The two-term Kunak assemblyman said the move reflected a shift away from putting Sabah first, and was a strategy to project Shafie as a prime ministerial candidate.
After losing the 2020 Sabah polls, Warisan officially expanded its wings to West Malaysia in December 2021, with Shafie promising he would be a “prime minister for all” if he were to land the top post.
The party contested in six seats in the March 2022 Johor state election, and also fielded candidates in 24 parliamentary and 16 state seats in West Malaysia in GE15.
All of its candidates, including former MCA president and federal minister Ong Tee Keat, failed to put up a formidable challenge, losing their deposits in the process.
It’s final — we’re going solo, no BN pact
Shafie said Warisan’s decision to go solo and contest all 73 seats up for grabs in the state polls was final, refuting speculation that the party will be working with Barisan Nasional.
“Sometimes, pictures of me with (BN chairman) Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, (Sabah BN chief) Bung Moktar Radin and (Perikatan Nasional chairman) Muhyiddin Yassin appear online.
“Why look at pictures (to speculate about a possible alliance for the state election)? These people should just listen to the announcement I’ve already made (that Warisan is going solo),” he said.
Shafie, who is also two-term assemblyman for Senallang, said Warisan’s objective in going solo was to show its readiness to form the next Sabah government on its own, like Berjaya and PBS had done in the past.
“If Berjaya and PBS could do it, why not Warisan?” he said in reference to the Harris Salleh and Joseph Pairin Kitingan administrations.