KOTA KINABALU: Warisan president Shafie Apdal has denied speculation that he will be offered a senior role in the new federal government being formed by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
“I did not hear anything. I have yet to see Datuk Seri Anwar (Ibrahim). I’ll be seeing him next week,” he told reporters after attending the budget meeting of the state assembly today.
He was responding to rumours circulating on social media in Sabah that he is set to be named the deputy prime minister in Anwar’s Cabinet.
Shafie said Anwar must be given the time and space to lead the nation and expressed his confidence that the prime minister has enough experience to carry out his job and responsibility.
The former Sabah chief minister said his party has experienced a unity government before when the party, together with Pakatan Harapan, won the 2018 general election.
“We have been there together with PH before, so we have the experience. So, there’s no question for us to work closely together. We were the first to sort of declare our support to Anwar and also BN.
“We declared earlier. We sent our statutory declarations. The country is facing problems, the economy must have stability. Enough is enough. So, that’s why we decided to move forward to ensure that we should be there at the national level too,” he said.
Commenting on Sabah politics, Shafie said he foresees a political conflict in Sabah because of the differing stands taken by Perikatan Nasional leader Muhyiddin Yassin and Sabah Bersatu chief Hajiji Noor.
Hajiji heads Sabah’s ruling coalition Gabungan Rakyat Sabah, which has declared support for Anwar’s government. However, Muhyiddin, who is PN chairman and Bersatu president, said he wants PN to be in the opposition to provide checks and balances.
“I don’t know whether it’s true or not,” Shafie said. “So at the state level, I don’t know where these people stand. But of course they have declared support to the federal government, which is good, I think let it be.
“We welcome any support to ensure the stability of everyone, this is what you call unity. We have been pledging unity for years,” he said.
GRS consists of Sabah Bersatu, STAR, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) and Usno.
Bersatu, STAR and SAPP are also part of PN. In the 2022 election, all the parties contested under the GRS flag. - FMT
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