Parti Warisan Sabah president Mohd Shafie Apdal has insisted that the six Sabah lawmakers who had defected to his party were not forced to do so, nor induced.

"There is no inducement, (no) force. They were not forced.

"I didn't place them for two to three days in a house. There is no force in this," Shafie said at a press conference in his house in Kota Kinabalu today.

He claimed that some of the state assemblypersons had been cordoned off from others, with even family members being unable to reach them.

The six who defected are Abdul Muis Pichu (Umno-Sebatik), Hamisa Samat (Umno-Tanjong Batu), Osman Jamal (Umno-Balung), Jamawi Jaafar (Umno-Kemabong), Ewon Benedick (Upko-Kedamaian) and Abidin Madingkir (Upko-Paginatan).

Warisan now claims to have 35 state lawmakers.

Shafie said he had also informed the Sabah governor that Parti Warisan has the numbers to form the Sabah government.

He said it was now the Sabah governor's prerogative whether to compel Musa Aman, who was sworn in as chief minister last night, to step down.

Asked whether he expected more elected representatives to defect to his side, Shafie said he had been receiving “a lot” of calls from those expressing their interest to do so.

Hamisa (photo) said her decision to join Warisan was without any condition.

“We just want to help the rakyat. We’re not forsaking the rakyat,” she said.

Echoing Hamisa, Abdul Muis pointed out how development for the people would be difficult without good relations between the state and federal governments.

Explaining Upko’s situation yesterday, Ewon said the five state assemblypersons were not aware of the party’s unanimous decision to leave BN.

Following the party’s decision, they decided to follow it and had then met the governor to inform him of their predicament.

“This was why the swearing-in ceremony was delayed,” Ewon said.

On Wednesday, Warisan and its allies won 29 of the 60 seats in the Sabah legislative assembly - two short of a simple majority.

However, Musa claimed that he, too, had the numbers, after recruiting two assemblypersons from Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star).

Asked about Jeffrey’s move to BN, Shafie said that Jeffrey had initially expressed support for Warisan.

“I’m not sure what happened after that.”

Asked whether he would accept Jeffrey if the latter wanted to join them, Shafie stressed on the need for politicians to have integrity.