Who is Mandela to tell KDM leaders how to think, asks Warisan man

 

Warisan youth leader Ismail Ayub says Bersatu youth leader Ceasar Mandela Malakun has no right to advise KDM leaders on their choices for Sabah.

KOTA KINABALU: A Warisan youth leader has hit back at Bersatu Youth vice-chief Ceasar Mandela Malakun over his statement cautioning the party’s Kadazan Dusun Murut (KDM) allies against Shafie Apdal’s “political agenda”.

Warisan deputy youth chief Ismail Ayub contended that Mandela was nothing but a “broker” and “tool” used by Bersatu, the dominant party in Perikatan Nasional (PN).

Ismail said youths wanting to join politics or support a political party should be aware of any subtle attempt by the dominant party to subjugate other parties within a political pact.

Mandela, a political secretary to the chief minister and Sabah Bersatu chief Hajiji Noor, had yesterday accused Warisan president Shafie of trying to create a rift among Gabungan Rakyat Sabah component parties and destabilise the state government.

Ismail said Mandela’s remarks were reminiscent of the old ways of coalitions that comprised peninsula and Sabah-based parties with the most dominant party exerting pressure on its partners.

He said the leader would use “brokers” to warn those who voice any dissatisfaction on issues.

“This is like the Barisan Nasional (BN) rule of Sabah between 1994 and 2018 where Umno ruled and controlled the local-based BN component parties with an iron fist,” he said in a statement today.

Ismail claimed this is being repeated now under PN where a spontaneous remark by Shafie and a non-committal response by Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president Maximus Ongkili have come under fire from several quarters.

“Only those in the circle know how disrespectful it is for PBS leaders who have sacrificed everything and stood by their principles for years to have an Armada (Bersatu youth wing) leader warn these experienced leaders over how to choose their destiny for Sabah.

“It can be seen here that Mandela, once a parliamentary candidate through the KDM-based Upko in GE14, is now but a tool to navigate and dictate terms to the KDM parties in Sabah,” he said.

Mandela had cautioned the KDM allies to be wary of the olive branch Shafie was offering supposedly for the good of Sabah. He claimed Shafie’s offer was like a poisoned apple, in order to come back to power.

A message had previously gone viral on social media claiming that Warisan would form a new government with PBS, PKR, Upko and three independent candidates.

The claim made the rounds after Ongkili welcomed a gesture from Shafie about the two parties working together.

However, Ongkili later clarified that he had only welcomed Warisan to work with the Sabah government. He invited Warisan to join PN.

Meanwhile, Ismail further contended that Mandela’s remarks showed he was more interested in making political statements instead of pressuring the federal government to help the people.

He said, for instance, the people in Beaufort and Tenom had been severely affected by the floods and needed a special natural disaster package instead of political games.

“This shows us that the spirit of service to the people, backed with strong leadership, does not exist in the Bersatu youth wing,” he said. - FMT