Why should PKR back Warisan, asks Sabah youth leader

Musa was sworn in as chief minister before Shafie in the aftermath of the 2018 general election, before Upko assemblymen decided to give their support to Warisan. “Isn’t this also stealing the people’s mandate?”

(FMT) – A Sabah PKR Youth leader has come to the defence of Inanam assemblyman and Sabah PKR vice-chief Kenny Chua who yesterday supported former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman in his claim of sufficient numbers to form a new state government.

Razeef Rakimin, the information chief of Sabah PKR’s youth wing, said Chua had betrayed neither PKR nor Pakatan Harapan (PH) as the Sabah government was not led by the coalition, but by Warisan with the support of PKR, DAP and Upko.

He also claimed that the majority of grassroots supporters were behind Sabah PKR’s decision to withdraw its support for the state government.

He said Warisan president and Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal had rejected not only the candidacy of PKR president Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister but PH as well.

“This is actually the decision and request of Shafie himself, that he would rather be in an independent bloc than to be with PH.

“So why should we be forced to support Warisan?” he said in a statement today.

Razeef also questioned the benefit of supporting the state government, saying Warisan had been snobbish towards PKR while not supporting PH.

“We also don’t see the advantage of this Warisan-led government because it’s still the same. Leaders and cronies get richer while the people live in poverty.”

Regarding the “people’s mandate”, he said Musa was sworn in as chief minister before Shafie in the aftermath of the 2018 general election, before Upko assemblymen decided to give their support to Warisan.

“Isn’t this also stealing the people’s mandate?”

Chua was among the assemblymen who attended Musa’s press conference yesterday, during which the former chief minister said he had a simple majority to form a new Sabah government after receiving sufficient support from assemblymen in the state.

Musa also said he had received statutory declarations from the assemblymen backing the new coalition that he would lead.

He said the coalition included elected representatives from Sabah Umno, PPBM, STAR, PBS, PKR, DAP, Warisan and Upko.

PKR information chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin later said the party would be taking action against Chua for supporting Musa in forming a new state government.