LETTER | Shafie Apdal as PM - a game changer
LETTER | As a Malaysian citizen and Pakatan Harapan supporter, I am sick and tired of the perennial dispute between Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim over who ought to be Prime Minister (PM).
While we supporters, who are still struggling with the Covid-19 pandemic, are sincerely and eagerly hoping for the return of Harapan to Putrajaya, Anwar is obstinately and tragically putting up a roadblock in demanding to be named PM by Harapan. This is despite it being patently clear that he does not have enough MPs to support him in his adamant quest.
Today, when I read that Mahathir has openly endorsed Sabah Chief Minister (CM) Shafie Apdal to be PM, it really made my day.
Finally a first, a bumiputera from East Malaysia is being proposed as the next PM of Malaysia. It is truly unprecedented, historic, and is clearly, a breath of fresh air, more so, a superb strategy.
Being a former Umno leader, a former BN cabinet minister, and the current CM of Sabah, Shafie Apdal is...
LETTER | As a Malaysian citizen and Pakatan Harapan supporter, I am sick and tired of the perennial dispute between Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim over who ought to be Prime Minister (PM).
While we supporters, who are still struggling with the Covid-19 pandemic, are sincerely and eagerly hoping for the return of Harapan to Putrajaya, Anwar is obstinately and tragically putting up a roadblock in demanding to be named PM by Harapan. This is despite it being patently clear that he does not have enough MPs to support him in his adamant quest.
Today, when I read that Mahathir has openly endorsed Sabah Chief Minister (CM) Shafie Apdal (above) to be PM, it really made my day.
Finally a first, a bumiputera from East Malaysia is being proposed as the next PM of Malaysia. It is truly unprecedented, historic, and is clearly, a breath of fresh air, more so, a superb strategy.
Being a former Umno leader, a former BN cabinet minister, and the current CM of Sabah, Shafie Apdal is experienced and is undisputably, most suitable to helm the post of PM.
He is a Muslim and a bumiputera, so Umno and PAS can’t discredit him based on race and religion.
From the perspective of demographics, in terms of the number of parliamentary seats in Sabah, there are 25 seats. Sarawak has 30 parliamentary seats. If Labuan is added, then, in total, there are 56 parliament seats in East Malaysia. Having Shafie Apdal as PM, will undoubtedly, further cement and buttress the support of East Malaysians toward Harapan.
We in Peninsula Malaysia, have always admired the harmonious race relations in Sabah and Sarawak. A shining example is the late Adenan Satem (below), the former CM of Sarawak who was indeed an epitome and an icon of multiculturalism in Borneo.
Undisputably then, picking a PM from Borneo will certainly be a move in the right direction to ease and deal with the pervading and ubiquitous racial and religious tensions in Malaysia as a whole. Simultaneously, it dovetails to promote and uphold the concept of equal partnership as enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
Irrefutably, I opine that this is very far-sighted and is indeed a wise move by Mahathir in naming Shafie as the proposed PM candidate. I have every confidence that Shafie will be able to garner and attract more East Malaysian MPs to support Harapan in its strategic political trajectory to return to Putrajaya soonest.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
