KOTA KINABALU: Warisan president Shafie Apdal believes he could have garnered more votes from MPs to be named as candidate for the prime minister’s post if he had been the opposition bloc’s candidate instead of Anwar Ibrahim.
Speaking at the “What’s Going on Malaysia?” online interview tonight, the former Sabah chief minister was reluctant to delve into details but said he believed he would have stood a good chance.
“It could have been done,” he said when asked by comedian Harith Iskander if he thought the results would have been different if it was his name on the sheet instead of the PKR president’s.
“There were colleagues coming from Bersatu, from PKR and from Umno too. They are quite close to me too. And there were also some from Sarawak.
“It could have been otherwise, but … it is something I don’t want to dwell on.
“We must move on. It’s how to ensure the opposition can be united.”
Shafie was initially in the running with Anwar to be the opposition’s candidate for the then vacant prime minister’s post.
The decision, however, would depend on who could get the additional support needed from outside the bloc of opposition parties.
Shafie, however, backed out of the running later, saying his party would fully support Anwar.
According to reports, Shafie was unable to secure support from members of the ruling coalition in Sarawak, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), to make up the numbers he had initially hoped for.
On obtaining the numbers from GPS, Shafie said he did reach out to his Sarawakian friends but claimed it was hard to garner support when he was not the sole candidate.
Shafie also said he felt strongly that it was about time someone from the Borneo states became prime minister.
He said the people from Sabah and Sarawak had the credentials and should have the opportunity to lead Malaysia, just like anyone else in the country. - FMT
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