Shafie: Can't force common logo, but can't PKR 'sacrifice'?

Warisan president Mohd Shafie Apdal has questioned why the party and its allies cannot use a common logo for the coming Sabah polls, similar to Pakatan Harapan’s use of the PKR logo in GE14.

While Shafie (above) said his party would not force other parties to comply with such a wish, the caretaker chief minister also questioned why PKR would not be able to make a similar “sacrifice” at this time.

This comes after PKR president Anwar Ibrahim said his party would use its own logo in the state elections, slated to take place next month.

This was despite an earlier suggestion for all political parties aligned to Warisan to contest in the state elections using the Warisan logo.

“In the last general election, everyone used the PKR logo and DAP did not use their rocket. If they can do it in KL, why not Sabah?

“PKR also used other people’s sacrifice for them, so why can’t they sacrifice for Sabah?

“This is only a request, we can’t force people. I don’t like to force people,” said Shafie as quoted by The Star last night.

For the first time since 1969, DAP had “grounded” its rocket logo for the 14th general election in May 2018 in Peninsular Malaysia.

However, the decision did not affect Sarawak and Sabah DAP due to their autonomy.

Meanwhile, despite Anwar’s statement, Sabah PKR leadership council vice-chairperson John Ghani called on the party leadership to grant autonomy to the state PKR to decide on the use of logos for the elections.

Meanwhile, Tuaran Warisan division chief Rakam Sijim said Anwar’s decision was “unwise”.

He said the success of the Warisan-led Sabah state government will have a great influence on voters in the upcoming elections.

As such, it makes sense for parties who are cooperating with Warisan, such as Upko and DAP.

However, Upko president Wilfred Madius Tangau also reportedly said that his party would use its own logo in the coming polls.

Wilfred Madius Tangau

Nominations for the state polls is set for Sept 12, while early voting will be on Sept 22.

Elections were triggered following the dissolution of the state government on July 30 following a political crisis involving allegations of possible defections and former chief minister Musa Aman's attempts to get sworn in.

Musa had claimed to have obtained support from enough state assemblypersons to get a simple majority and form a new state government.

However, he was prevented from meeting with Sabah governor Juhar Mahiruddin, who instead dissolved the state government.

The Kota Kinabalu High Court later dismissed Musa’s legal bid to quash the dissolution, paving the way for elections. - Mkini