Lajim labels Shafie a hypocrite
Published on: Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: State opposition leader Datuk Lajim Ukin, Monday, accused fellow opposition Parti Warisan President Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal of being too proud, arrogant and a hypocrite who never spoke about Sabah rights when he was an Umno Minister but is suddenly portraying himself as the only one who truly cares about Sabah.Lajim, who is Gabungan component Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah President, said the statement by Shafie denouncing Gabungan suggests he is also over-confident in his first outing as an opposition leader. "Shafie made a big sweeping statement that some Gabungan Sabah leaders are 'sellouts'.
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That is a hypocritical statement from someone who abandoned Umno, a party that made him what he is today, including the means to win over leaders from other parties to form his new party. "I want to challenge Shafie that if he wasn't sacked as a minister and his Umno membership wasn't suspended will he be talking about Malaysia Agreement (MA63)? Will he inform the PM that he wants the implementation of MA63 to be fully carried for the benefit of Sabahans. "Will he dare talk about and ask for an increase in the State oil royalty? It is only now he is talking on these matters. "He never before spoke out while he was in the Government. I was with him during meetings where I was then part of the federal government cabinet committee. He never spoke out on Sabah rights at all.
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"As a member in the cabinet committee chaired by the Prime Minister (then as Deputy Prime Minister) on foreign workers and PTI issues, Shafie also never spoke out. "When Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was the Deputy Prime Minister and he was in the cabinet Committee on Foreign labour and Illegals in Sabah, he also never spoke out.
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"So why is it only now he is aware about the importance of these issues? This is what I want to tell the Sabah people, so that they know who is Shafie Apdal."Lajim also questioned what Shafie did when he was at one time in charge of one of the most powerful portfolios as the Minister of Rural and Regional Development? "For Sabah alone Shafie had RM7.5 billion between 2009 and 2015 at his disposal as the Minister to implement rural road, water and electricity development projects."If he was so good at helming the Ministry then, there would be many positive outcomes from these so called rural projects for the people. Instead, what we have in Sabah is electricity poles without cables, water plants and pipes without water and rural roads built in the middle of nowhere that bring no benefit to anyone." Lajim also pointed out that Shafie had never contested under the opposition ticket. "He rose only because of the support and relinquishing of MP seat by Tun Sakaran where he (Shafie) contested straight away. "He never stood in 1994 and never contested in the elections under the opposition ticket. Even though Umno at the time was categorised as the opposition in the State, he was fortunate as Umno was still governing in the peninsula. So he is still untested as the opposition."So Shafie shouldn't be making statements that make him look as if he is unprofessional. He should think before making such statements. "If he wants to work with Pakatan Harapan that is his choice, but by not wanting to work with Gabungan Sabah, it is clear it is not we who are rejecting this opportunity to cooperate but Shafie himself who views himself as if he is the hero who can lead Sabah and can do all."Lajim said perhaps Shafie feels he is popular because he was once in Umno, being the vice president and a Minister.Lajim urged Shafie to come down to earth and gauge his real strength as a leader in governing and leading a state. He said Shafie should also stop telling other parties what to do and trim his sense of self importance and arrogance.Lajim reiterated no party can form the Government in the State if there is no coalition to fight against and defeating the BN government in the State."The people know how to judge the leadership of Warisan. We offered to Warisan before the opportunity to work together and we were ready then to hold discussions."So the question here is who does not want to cooperate (Gabungan or Warisan). It is clear from the statement by Shafie that he does not want to cooperate with local parties especially Gabungan Sabah."For Warisan to tell Pakatan Harapan including DAP where and where not to contest in the next General Election also reflected his egotistical nature and delusions of grandeur on Warisan's part. "For a party that has not been tried and tested, they sure talk big, telling others what and what not to do." Lajim said he has not even been to Semporna but claimed Shafie has gone five times to his area and spoke to the people there with various accusations."I was even made to understand he had made statements in Beaufort including that we were 'agents of Barisan Nasional (BN)' and such."Lajim said Shafie has also spoken about the leadership of Gabungan where he reportedly said they can be said to be categorised as of various 'colours'."I do not understand what he means by that and today we want Shafie to be clear on what he meant by 'colours'. Do not make lies and accusations when our intention in Gabungan Sabah is to topple the BN government." Lajim said even though Gabungan is not working with Warisan, Shafie shouldn't have been making such accusations regarding Gabungan when Shafies own 'supposed' goal as well is topple the Umno BN Government. "He hasn't yet felt what it is like to be in the opposition. Warisan is only barely about a year in the opposition. SAPP president Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee and Star President Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan have been a long time in the opposition. Even myself, I have already been five years in the opposition. "Even the 'Sabah for Sabahans' struggle Warisan has 'copyrighted' (copied) from Gabungan and from Jeffrey. Even the struggle for the MA63, Warisan is is just copying what has been voiced by Gabungan all this while." Meanwhile, SAPP President Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee commenting on advice by Shafie that it was time for Sabahans to forgive former Prime Minsiter cum Pribumi Bersatu President Mahathir Mohamad, said Warisan has now become a proxy for the Pribumi Bersatu party. "When I read the news, my reaction was that Shafie should first list out what were the wrongdoings that the people of Sabah should forgive Mahathir first. He (Shafie) said this because he felt that there were certain things Mahathir needed to be forgiven for. So in order for the Sabahans to do this, it is best he list them out."On remarks that he did not trust several leaders of Gabungan Sabah, Yong said Shafie as a former Vice President of Umno in Kuala Lumpur is aware of the "divide and rule" tactics of Malayan parties used on Sabahans. "The more Sabahan's are divided and fragmented the more Kuala Lumpur loves it. So we see in Sabah today many political parties that were set up by Kuala Lumpur. "The tactic of Sabahans to counter this KL tactic is to be united. This is the core reason for Gabungan Sabah, whereby opposition parties in the State can be united under a coalition."As such parties who want to damage Gabungan Sabah and do not want to cooperate with other parties can be said to be agents of Malayan parties."Yong said Warisan was supposed to be active in the East coast area but saw last night that Warisan wants to be active also in the West coast also where Gabungan is already active and strong. "For example in Tuaran (which is under PCS), in Kota Belud, Kadamaian and Keningau. This shows that Warisan is not being active in Umno areas in the east coast but are disturbing Gabungan Sabah areas in the west coast."So this gives rise to the question of what is the true motive of Warisan. The words and actions of Warisan leaders show they are trying to split the Sabah opposition. "We are very surprised why they now want to disturb areas already won by the opposition held areas such as Bingkor, Kadamaian and Penampang. "We don't see them being active in the East coast where Warisan is supposed to win some seats in order to topple Umno (Sabah). Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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