Bersatu must discuss with Warisan before setting foot in Sabah

Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin said the party will have to take a cautious approach before deciding whether to spread its wing to Sabah.

This, he explained to reporters today, was because Pakatan Harapan already has an agreement with Shafie Apdal-led Warisan in the East Malaysia state. Shafie is also the Sabah chief minister.

"We are yet to be in Sabah, for example, but there are Sabahans who want to join us. However, we have something to settle first.

"I have met with Shafie, as we had before this promised that we would not spread our wings to Sabah because we want Warisan to be the umbrella party for the people in Sabah.

"And this strategy was right, we won in the general election. Even without us, they (Warisan) won (in Sabah). We did not clash with each other and we succeeded," Muhyiddin told reporters during a press conference at Bersatu headquarters in Petaling Jaya today.

He was responding to a recent request by Sabahans to join the party, albeit it not having any division in the state. 

Muhyiddin, who is the home minister, said the matter could also be solved if the Sabahans who wish to become Bersatu members can agree to be absorbed by Warisan.

"I told Shafie (photo) to discuss with them first. If they can join Warisan, then it is solved. So we would not have a clash between our parties and other pro-Harapan parties.

"If this was done, and let's say most of them do not want to join Warisan and they insist of taking in Bersatu, it is important to have an understanding with Warisan.

"Because then we can decide, if it is unavoidable, then we need to forms division and branches in an understanding (with Warisan)," he said.

Muhyiddin added that he needs to be careful because it is important for Harapan to protect the Warisan rule in Sabah, rather than competing against each other.

Cautious in Sarawak too

On Bersatu making a footing in Sarawak, Muhyiddin said it also requires a cautious approach so that their presence there would not become an issue with the state ruling coalition Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), especially since the latter had announced that they are pro-Harapan.

He mentioned that among the issues that need to be discussed with GPS first are about its economic policies, including the matter concerning petroleum resources.

"For Sarawak, we have launched (Bersatu in Sarawak). But we have to be careful in Sarawak too, as the situation there is different than in Sabah and the peninsula.

"We want to make sure that our presence there would not become an issue, especially with GPS having said they are pro-Harapan.

"What is the meaning of pro-Harapan? They made several decisions concerning Petronas, and if we are not careful, these will affect Petronas operations (in Sarawak). So we have to discuss.

"In politics, they are pro-Harapan, but not so much when it comes to their economic policies. This is a problem, and we have to settle this first."

He said it might be okay for Bersatu to set up a couple of divisions there, but they have no intention to spread its wing state-wide as Sarawak is a large state and not easy for them to manage.

GPS is a new political bloc in Sarawak, being formed by four former BN parties following the latter's defeat in the 14th general election.  - Mkini