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KOTA KINABALU, March 1 — Parti Warisan Sabah will be sending a resignation letter pre-signed by Sebatik assemblyman Hassan Amir Gani in the event of him deciding to quit the party or is sacked from the party before his term ends.
Party president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal said that the letter was signed by Hassan in September last year as he took an oath of loyalty to the party as a candidate for the Sebatik seat that was documented along with a video pledge.
“We are submitting a letter to the State Assembly speaker, the governor Tun Juhar Mahiruddin and the Election Commission soon, perhaps tomorrow or the day after.
“They might say they were forced to sign the pledges. But at the time, we had the choice of different candidates to select from. There was no force or intimidation for them to sign and he signed and made the pledge in the name of God to remain loyal to the party for their term, or unless sacked,” he said.
In the video taken on September 10, 2020, Hassan, reading from a pre-prepared statement said that he would remain loyal to the party if he won the Sebatik seat and signed a letter agreeing to resign should he decide to leave the party, become an independent or be sacked among others. The video was circulated and played to the media during the press conference.
Shafie said that the letter should be valid but that the party would look into legal action next.
“He has to vacate the post. By right, the letter, which he signed without inducement, should be considered valid. We will look into whether to take legal action,” he said.
Shafie, who was speaking to reporters here after a meeting with all 21 Warisan elected state representatives and six other Members of Parliament, said that they had not received an official letter from Hassan to inform the party of his exit, and has been unreachable since news broke of his resignation.
“He didn’t inform us of his resignation. He did not have the courtesy to let us know. We tried calling him. The legal interpretation is that he is still in Warisan until there is an official letter,” said Shafie.
“It’s important for each individual to have some dignity and honour. It’s different when it’s forming a bloc together, that’s understandable. Maybe he forgot he took the pledge in front of everyone,” he added.
The Semporna MP said that despite rumours and speculation of more Warisan reps expected to leave, the remaining elected representatives had insisted they were steadfast in their loyalty to the party.
Shafie said that many of the elected representatives were facing daily pressure of intimidation, inducement and harassment to jump sides.
“There are more than 700,000 unemployed and people are suffering. In some places, people are finding basic necessities hard to get. I hope this government focuses on these issues and spends money for the people’s basic needs and not on buying assemblymen,” he said, alleging that “millions of ringgit” was being used to induce his assemblymen.
Shafie, the state opposition leader, said he would next meet with other opposition elected representatives from DAP, PKR and Upko under the Warisan Plus opposition bloc by Friday.
Hassan, a first time assemblyman, announced his resignation from the party on February 25, through an interview with Bernama, saying he would support the GRS state government and said it was easier to serve his constituency as part of the government.
He said Warisan was more interested in politicking than serving the people’s interest and cited the party’s rejection of the Budget 2021 in Parliament.
Warisan currently has 21 assemblymen in the 79-member State Assembly.