Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal says he is not a ‘warlord’, but a leader and person who has served in this country for 32 years, not just in the leadership at the Sabah level. — Picture by Hari Anggara
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 – Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal has said he is a national leader rather than a “warlord” in Sabah, and has plans to have his Sabah-based party Parti Warisan Sabah expand to Peninsular Malaysia.
In an interview with local daily Sinar Harian, the Sabah-born Shafie pointed to the support he had received from even other states when he was contesting for the vice-president position in his former party Umno.
“I am actually not a Sabah ‘warlord’. I am a leader and person who has served in this country for 32 years, not just in the leadership at the Sabah level. Already long at the national level,” he was quoted as saying, in response to a question on the public viewing him to be a Sabah warlord and Warisan as a Sabah party.
“So if viewed that we are a ‘warlord’ in a state, when I was vice president contesting, seven states I received 100 per cent, Kelantan, Pahang, Selangor, Kedah and so on. They gave their support, means it is their confidence in a leader that they can give their support in.”
Having been asked what Warisan could offer to those in Peninsular Malaysia, Shafie was reported saying that it would not be meaningful for Warisan to be seen as if it is for Sabah when it is championing the country.
Noting that Umno, DAP and PKR could also spread their wings to Sabah, he asked why Warisan which is registered under the Registrar of Societies could not similarly spread its wings.
Asked when Warisan would officially be announced as entering Peninsular Malaysia, Shafie was quoted by Sinar Harian as saying: “God-willing in this year if there are no obstacles. So far there is already interest towards this party based on several people that I have already met.”
In the same interview, Shafie also spoke about how he had several MP supporters across different states if he were to have been nominated by the opposition in August as a candidate for the prime minister post, noting for example he had two from Sarawak, two from Johor, one from Perak, and several others including four from Umno.
Opposition Leader and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was in August named as the Opposition’s candidate for the prime minister post, and eventually Umno’s Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was appointed as the country’s ninth prime minister.