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In recent days, former Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal has been talking about the possibility of a bigger role for East Malaysia as he used Warisan’s annual general assembly to pressure the divided federal opposition to institute a leadership change and even seemed to offer himself as an alternative to the current leader of the opposition, Anwar Ibrahim.
The party’s youth chief, Mohd Azis Jamman, later revealed that Warisan is considering spreading its wings to Peninsular Malaysia and become a national party in its own right.
Yesterday, in an interview with radio station BFM89.9, Shafie went back on the offensive, raising the idea of an East Malaysian. opposition leader without actually offering the role.
“If Malaysians think that a person who comes from Peninsular Malaysia has come forward (as the leader of all of Malaysia) for the past 60 years, why not a Sabahan or a Sarawakian for that matter?
“Because we are building a nation here. Don’t tell me that the East Malays cannot provide or render their services to the country? ” I ask.
Yet despite Shafie’s bold words, most analysts familiar with Sabah’s volatile political scene feel that the Semporna MP may be mistaking the role of kingmaker for one of sufficient broad-based strength to be required to lead the country.
“Shafie should focus on being a strong and effective opposition leader at the Sabah state level before reaching out to the federal opposition,” Firdausi said.
