Kota Kinabalu: Parti Warisan’s Petagas Assemblyman Datuk Awang Ahmad Sah Sahari announced quitting the party to join Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
To date, Warisan has lost 10 assembly members. The party now has only 15 members in the 79-seat State Legislative Assembly.
“I have been thinking about this for three months,” he told a press conference, Monday. Awang Ahmad was Warisan’s Treasurer-General and the party’s Putatan head.
“And I listened to the voices of the leaders in my division. So, I called them, including those who do not want to leave Warisan, for discussions.
“There is no doubt in my decision as I do not make it on my own…I can say the whole division leaders are unanimous in their support for the shift.”
He deemed Petagas Warisan had collapsed following the move.
He said, it was hard for him to leave Warisan, but “I must take into consideration the people’s sentiment and the divisional leadership’s thoughts on our situation.”
“What is more important is my constituents as they were the ones who voted for me and handed me the victory.”
As an elected representative, he said, he has to take practical actions.
“At the same time, the Chief Minister is a good leader. As such, this is a decision that I must make.”
He disclosed that he met Hajiji twice, the last being on Friday.
“During the meeting, I did not ask him how much money can he give me, or what position he can offer me. I only asked him what are his plans for Sabah, and I am satisfied with his replies. Afterwards, I held further discussions with divisional leaders,” he said.
He thanked his supporters as well as Warisan President Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal for fielding him as an election candidate.
He said he was in Kuala Lumpur about 10 days ago with other Warisan leaders, including Shafie.
“I did not talk about leaving the party as I had not decided yet at that time,” he said.
As for Petagas, he said, he has hired several contractors and engineers to study a project to solve the flood problem in the area.
Several Wira Warisan leaders also stated their intentions to leave the party, including Wira Deputy Chief Ismail Sabran.
His announcement came three weeks after Kunak Assemblywoman Norazlinah Arif, Banggi’s Mohammad Mohamarin and Tanjong Kapor’s Ben Chong also announced their decision to leave the party.
Meanwhile, at the same press conference, Tanjung Aru PBRS Chief Noran Addy Sukiran announced that the whole division decided to leave the party and pledge their support to Gagasan Rakyat and the State Government.
