STATE Special Tasks and Coordination Assistant Minister Datuk Fairuz Renddan said the State Government under the leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor is stable and continues to focus on the development of the State and its people.
He said the time has come for Parti Warisan leaders to stop slandering and discrediting Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) leaders after an unsuccessful attempt in toppling them.
“Do not undermine the stability and political integrity of our State with statements that accuse and discredit its leadership,” the Pintasan Assemblyman said in a statement.
Fairuz said GRS is unmoved by Warisan’s actions and, unlike them, has no intention of ruining Sabah’s progression.
“That just shows jealousy and a thirst for revenge… It’s a problem that comes from the heart,” he said in refuting the claims of Warisan President Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal that the GRS-Barisan Nasional State Government was under threat after GRS leaders left Bersatu last week. “We want to work for the people and we want the voice of the people to be carried by assemblymen and Members of Parliament. Personal interest was never brought into that effort up to the point of threatening the integrity and stability of Sabah.
“I think that should be enough (Shafie)... let’s all work together for Sabah and the people. There’s no point of fighting and arguing it will only confuse Sabahans,” he said.
Political Secretary to the CM, Ceasar Mandela Malakun said Shafie’s claim that the action of GRS leaders leaving Bersatu is destabilising Sabah’s politics is hypocritical.
“That was what Warisan had been doing since they lost the Sabah election in 2020,” said Mandela.
Mandela said from day one of the GRS-BN government taking over from Warisan, Shafie’s party had been plotting to topple the Sabah government, “just like what they did to the Sabah BN government in 2018.”
“Every now and again, they (Warisan) spread rumours that this assemblyman and that assemblyman are leaving the GRS-BN coalition to form a State Government with Shafie as the Chief Minister,” he said in a statement.
“I suppose it is Warisan’s game to give hope to their assemblymen and keep them from leaving the party.”
Mandela said he is not surprised that Warisan has now come up with another “trick” to destabilise the government, this time, by questioning the legitimacy of the Chief Minister and the Sabah government.
“They are well aware that their accusations or as Shafie termed it, ‘concern’, do not hold water.
“But they are willing to go to any length including destabilising the government just to come out on top,” he said.
Mandela said Shafie and his party have relentlessly attacked leaders of GRS and BN, both politically and personally, in order to turn the people against Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
“They beat their chests, proclaiming that they are the only authentic Sabah local party and will fight for Sabah’s rights.
“Then they went and opened branches in Malaya, but never once mentioned Sabah’s rights while campaigning there.
“Warisan’s narratives have always been about misinformation and manipulating facts to benefit their party and their leaders. They do not care about the implications of their lies; they simply call it politics.”
Mandela said Sabahans should take the words coming out of Warisan leaders’ mouths with a pinch of salt.
“The words sound nice, but they are riddled with lies and half-truths, like poisoned apples,” he claimed.
In fact, Mandela said the GRS-BN government is as stable as it has always been and there is no question about the legitimacy of Hajiji as CM.
“GRS is a party with 30 assemblymen plus six GRS-friendly assemblymen. Our partner Sabah BN has 17 assemblymen while Sabah PH has seven assemblymen who have thrown their support behind Hajiji. If Warisan is sincere about Sabah and Sabahans, they should play their roles as responsible oppositions as best they can, rather than stooping to gutter politics,” he said.
