Muhyiddin sad at not having Shafie beside him at the top

Muhyiddin Yassin and Shafie Apdal carried out a welcoming fist bump when the prime minister arrived in Sabah on an official visit today. (Bernama pic)

KOTA KINABALU: Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has expressed his sadness at not having Sabah Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal, whom he described as his good friend, with him in leading the government.

Muhyiddin said that he and Shafie were comrades, especially in Umno until he was sacked and Shafie decided to leave the party.

“But what I am sad about is that now that I am the Prime Minister, the leadership of Sabah is not with me. He (Mohd Shafie) is my good friend.

“In politics, one day you can be friends and the next moment you are enemies. But when it comes to the administration of the country, as far as possible the federal and state governments must be the same, and of one heart and one mind,” he said.

However, Muhyiddin disclosed that Shafie had been at Kota Kinabalu airport today to welcome him on his first official visit to Sabah since becoming prime minister.

Photographs of the two leaders doing the fist bump at the airport has been widely shared by many social media and Internet users.

Muhyiddin made his remarks about Shafie when speaking at a social event with state political leaders at the Sabah International Convention Centre. - FMT