Warisan’s Supreme Council has reaffirmed the party’s decision to go solo in the upcoming Sabah state election and vie for all 73 seats up for grabs.
Warisan president Shafie Apdal reiterated that this meant the party would not form an alliance with any party for the state polls, Bernama reported.
“The party has unanimously decided to contest all 73 state seats. This means there will be no coalitions or collaborations. If you see photos or hear stories (that suggest otherwise), do not believe them.
“This is the party’s decision, not the president’s alone,” said the former Sabah chief minister.
Shafie said Warisan had worked with various political parties in the past, but found that these alliances failed to produce results in improving the welfare of Sabahans.
He claimed that other parties were only focussed on the issue of seats and government positions.
“They only want to know how many seats they will get. After getting the seats, they also want ministerial positions. If they don’t get them, they jump again, over and over,” he said.
The Sabah state assembly dissolves automatically on Nov 11, which means the 17th state election must be held in January at the latest.
Warisan currently sits in the opposition in the state assembly with Sabah Barisan Nasional.
Sabah BN used to be part of the state administration but was booted out after it failed to unseat chief minister Hajiji Noor in January 2023, in a move since dubbed the “Kinabalu Move”.
When Shafie was chief minister from 2018 to 2020, the Warisan president had the support of Pakatan Harapan, which now backs Hajiji, the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah chairman.
BN, PH, GRS and Warisan are all allies at the federal level.
