PETALING JAYA: An analyst expects Warisan to face some challenges in expanding to Peninsular Malaysia due to its “anti-Putrajaya” sentiments in the last state polls, despite the “Unity” slogan used by the Sabah party.
Azmi Hassan, formerly of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, said the party’s message of unity will miss the mark, despite it being the backbone of Warisan’s attempt to garner substantial support in the peninsula.
“The unity factor that Warisan wants to use as their foundation to be established in the peninsula is peculiar because during the Sabah state polls, Warisan leaders were seen to be ‘anti-Putrajaya’,” he told FMT.
He said Warisan cannot depend on the “aura” of party president Shafie Apdal alone although he is one of their strengths and well known in the peninsula since he was a Cabinet minister for quite some time.
Azmi said Warisan needed more prominent leaders to rise up, carrying the same “aura” that Shafie had, before making the move across the sea.
“Warisan’s strength in the eyes of peninsula voters is just Shafie, while other leaders are only known in Sabah, except for those who were appointed ministers and deputy ministers during the Pakatan Harapan government.
“Depending on Shafie’s aura alone is clearly not enough if associated with Shafie’s polemic as a candidate for the prime minister’s post.”
On Saturday, Warisan announced that it was considering spreading its wings to the peninsula, convinced that its “Unity” message will be able to garner substantial support across the sea.
Warisan secretary-general Loretto Padua Jr said the Sabah-based party’s theme will catch on in West Malaysia, while youth chief Azis Jamman said “something big is going to happen very soon”.