Shafie owes everything to Umno, says Sabah blogger
Political activist says Warisan leaders wrong to put trust in Shafie Apdal, who he says came up thanks to his uncle, former Sabah governor Sakaran Dandai.
KOTA KINABALU: The rise of Parti Warisan Sabah president Shafie Apdal in Sabah’s political scene was due to his relationship with his uncle Sakaran Dandai and not due to his personal leadership capabilities, according to a statement by Sabah-based blogger and political activist Musram Rakunman.
Musram said Shafie’s number two Darell Leiking has no idea who his boss really is because he has always been with the opposition and only got involved with Shafie in October last year when Warisan was formed.
“Because Shafie is the party president, Darell thinks his president is a hero. But Umno members know who Shafie is and no Umno leader nor member ever considered Shafie a hero.
“To prove this, no Umno leaders joined him when he left Umno except his henchmen like Azis Jamman, Jaujan Sambakong and a few others who were allegedly awarded projects when the Semporna MP was still the rural and regional development minister,” Musram said.
Musram also pointed out that Shafie first stood as the Barisan Nasional candidate for Semporna in the 1995 general election, replacing his uncle Sakaran Dandai, who had been appointed Yang diPertua of Sabah.
“His victory in the seat was not due to his leadership but simply because of his party and the backing from his uncle.
“The same happened in the Umno party election where he was elected as vice-president not because of his heroics but because at the time, Shafie was the blue-eyed boy of Prime Minister Najib Razak,” he said.
Shafie, is currently being held under remand by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in its investigation into the alleged siphoning of RM1.5 billion of federal funds meant for rural projects for the state between 2009 and 2015.
He was arrested on Thursday when he went to the MACC office to give his statement, and was then remanded for four days from Friday.
However, Shafie had been warded in hospital following his arrest, owing to high blood pressure, and was discharged yesterday.
His lawyer said the Semporna MP had accompanied MACC officers to search his house in Taman Golf View at around 3pm and left an hour later to the MACC lockup where he will spend the rest of his remand order. Nothing was taken from his house.
Meanwhile, Musram also spoke of the weakness in Warisan deputy president Darell Leiking’s argument that Shafie is a unifying factor in the state.
“If indeed Darell is right that only Shafie can unite Sabahans, there is no such sign yet because so far, only Darell from the Kadazandusun Murut (KDM) community and Junz Wong from the Chinese community have joined Shafie.”
He added that Shafie’s aide and Warisan vice-president Peter Anthony also owes his position to his influence in KDM Malaysia, a Sabah NGO, which is known for its financial strength, hence he cannot be said to represent the KDM community as a whole.
Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram
“Also, Darell and Junz, just like Shafie, won their seats in the last election because of their parties, not because of their leadership or heroics,” Masrum said.