What did Anifah do as foreign minister over Manila’s Sabah claim, asks Shafie

Shafie Apdal (left) claims Anifah Aman kept silent during his tenure as foreign minister even though he was in a better position to raise the issue with his counterpart in Manila.

KOTA KINABALU: Dismissing claims that he was quiet on the issue of the Philippines’ claims on Sabah, caretaker chief minister Shafie Apdal has instead questioned what Anifah Aman had done when he was the foreign minister under the former Barisan Nasional government.

“We have already made clear our stand that Sabah does not belong to the Philippines. We oppose any such claim … just ask Zaleha,” he said, referring to former Sabah attorney-general (AG) Zaleha Rose Pandin.

Zaleha and former AG of Malaysia had previously brought the case to a Spanish court to challenge Philippine’s claim.

Shafie took aim at Anifah, for not having conveyed Sabah’s stand to his Filipino counterpart when he was the foreign minister.

“He (Anifah) kept silent and is instead trying to push the blame to me. But I was never the foreign minister. Only he had the right to raise such issues and had the right access to make Sabah’s stand known to his counterpart (in Manila),” he said after the launching of a loan scheme for micro-, small- and medium-enterprises at the state administration office here today.

“In fact, I did raise the issue last year during a visit by the Philippine Ambassador to Sabah. I told them not to dispute or stake their claim on Sabah.

“We have been advised by the Cobbold Commission and the United Nations (UN) in 1960 that Sabah does not belong to them (the Philippines) and this is the position of law.”

Anifah, who is Parti Cinta Sabah president, had recently been reported as saying that Shafie was silent on the issue of the Philippines’ claim on Sabah.

“As you are aware, we have many issues, but Shafie is a leader who has the tendency to pass major issues such as that which touches on our state’s sovereignty to others.

“His action doesn’t portray his earnestness as in the political stage. He seems afraid to face a foreign power, preferring to lie low and expects the federal government to defend our state,” Anifah said, adding that Sabah cannot afford to have a leader who is a coward.

“What is Shafie actually afraid of? Sabah cannot depend on weak and inexperienced leaders like Shafie to protect its sovereignty.

“What has he done over the past two years as chief minister, with this issue having been swept under the carpet,” Anifah was quoted as saying by a news portal. - FMT