The English proverb on “Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” has been largely ignored or simply forgotten by former Sabah Chief Minister, Shafie Apdal who has been up in arms over Sebatik assemblyman Hassan A Gani Pg Amir quitting Warisan to declare himself an independent.
Perhaps the Warisan President is suffering from a momentary lapse of memory or amnesia because he has suddenly forgotten the events engineered by his Warisan party to bring down the Barisan Nasional Sabah government after GE14.
Shafie then saw it fit to accept not one but six BN assemblymen barely 24 hours after another Chief Minister was sworn in, forming a backdoor government and effectively making him the Chief Minister in 2018.
It would seem that only Shafie has the license to accept defecting elected representatives on the basis that they had lost confidence in the then democratically elected government.
It must be noted that Hassan’s decision to leave Warisan was too prompted by his lost of confidence in the party and has since voiced his support for the GRS coalition.
This move has further stoked Shafie’s wrath, sparking a tirade on loyalty pledges, pre signed letters of resignation and vacating of seat to pave way for a by-election.
The Warisan president reportedly said the pre signed letter of resignation was made by Hassan on Sept 10, 2020 during nomination of Warisan’s candidates for the 16th State election that included the latter’s pledge of loyalty to the party.
He also said the party has sent the letter to the State Legislative Assembly and a copy of the letter handed to the Head of State and Election Commission.
It looks like the latest move by Hassan has given Shafie a new found moral compass on loyalty and good versus bad politics.
On a closer look it looks more like hypocrisy of the highest order by a man who is desperately hanging on to a sinking ship.
He should instead asked himself what did Warisan really achieved for Sabah in the 24 months they were in power?
We saw a trail of burnt down squatters, a burgeoning population of illegal immigrants and a stark increase in panhandlers on the streets of Sabah.
Perhaps if Warisan was better at handling the economy, it would have better resilience in withstanding the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic.
However, Warisan and its leaders were more focused on fighting the shadows and ghosts of past politics, finger pointing, slander and mudsling politics.
The people of Sabah and elected representatives who left the Warisan coalition last year realized that all the party had to offer was lip service and political vengeance.
Shafie pushed for the Sabah state election and the people spoke.
Now that the Warisan president is once again at a similar crossroads, perhaps he should take stock of how got there and accept that his brand of politics is not what Sabah needs.
Datuk Jonistonn Bangkuai
GABUNGAN RAKYAT SABAH INFORMATION CHIEF / PARTI BERSATU SABAH SECRETARY-GENERAL*
