PETALING JAYA: A Sabah PKR leader has said the opposition leadership is still strong contrary to Warisan president Shafie Apdal’s contention that it may fail in the 15th general election (GE15) if the current crop of leaders continue to be in the driver’s seat.
State youth chief Raymond Ahuar said parties like Warisan and Pejuang were the ones attempting to weaken Pakatan Harapan (PH) by not supporting its efforts in Parliament.
“They are acting independently just because of personal problems with PH leaders. If you look at the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government today, it does not have the strength to get even 112 votes of MPs, or 50% support, for the 2021 budget,” he said in a statement.
Taking a dig at Warisan’s plan to spread its wings to the peninsula, he said it was better for Shafie to focus on taking back the Sabah government from PN after the people had rejected him in the Sept 26 state elections.
“I do not oppose his decision to spread the legacy of Warisan to the peninsula in the spirit of democracy. However, it is a bit awkward that he wants to take Warisan there after failing in Sabah.
“In the Sabah campaign, almost all billboards had his face emblazoned on them. He failed to convey the true message of unity and was not accepted by the Kadazan, Dusun and Murut communities.”
He reminded Shafie that PKR had focused on unity way before in 1998 by forming a national multiracial and multi-religious political party. “And today, we are the largest multiracial party in the country with over one million members.”
He said the unification of all the opposition parties without any personal agenda can definitely strengthen the existing pact.
“So I advise Shafie to stop dragging personal problems into politics and immediately find a common ground to restore the people’s mandate won in GE14,” he said.