Video purportedly shows Shafie equating PPBM with Umno

KOTA KINABALU: A video recording which purportedly shows Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal criticising PPBM as another version of Umno has been making the rounds in the state.

In the clip, a man resembling Shafie is seen in a lively conversation with several women who are believed to have sought his views on joining PPBM.

“This PPBM is Umno. Why do you want to join them?” he asked.

When contacted, an aide to Shafie said the Warisan president has no comments on the video.

In the clip, the man is heard telling the women that joining PPBM means supporting Sabah PPBM chief Hajiji Noor.

“Who is ruling? Hajiji or me? Who is inciting you to join PPBM?” he asks.

He then says Warisan will defend the rights of Sabahans and the state under the Malaysian federation.

Hajiji, the former Sabah Umno chief, led dozens of Sabah Umno members to cross over to PPBM early this year.

In the video, the man says if he had joined PPBM, he would be its deputy president.

“I was asked by Mahathir to join, I also did not want. It was a high position, too.

“It is not positions I am after,” he adds, advising the women not to go after positions in the party.

PPBM’s Sabah chapter was launched in April this year, two months after dozens of Umno MPs, assemblymen and senators declared themselves as independents.

PPBM’s move to set foot in Sabah initially drew protests from Warisan leaders including Shafie. Shafie has since said it is PPBM’s democratic right to set up base in the state. - FMT