Warisan has over 200,000 registered members since its establishment in 2016, president Mohd Shafie Apdal said today.

Shafie, the Sabah chief minister, said the number is part of the applications approved by the party – with more than 50,000 applications still pending and in the process of being approved.

He said Warisan would come up with membership cards which would then be handed out to its registered members in the hope of strengthening the party.

"We will investigate in depth not only on the number of members we have, but the type of 'value' they add to the party,”.

“We want members who understand the party’s struggles. They should have good intentions in ensuring the stability of the government," he told reporters after chairing the Warisan supreme council meeting in Kota Kinabalu today.

Shafie said the meeting lasted nearly three hours, discussing among others, the party's approach in increasing its membership, besides determining its direction to empower, party especially after last year's general election and the internal party election.

Warisan now has 26 divisions with more than 700 branches throughout Sabah. The number of branches is expected to increase, as the party had received a green light from the Registrar of Societies to set up another branch.

New supreme council appointments

Meanwhile,  Shafie said the appointment of eight supreme council members were announced at the meeting. 

These included Sabah education and innovation minister Yusof Yacob, who will serve as Warisan’s Information chief, and also Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Mohamaddin Ketapi and Labuan MP Rozman Isli.

Shafie, who also chairs the Sabah Security Committee, said the state government welcomed any proposal or change sought by the federal government regarding the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom).

He said what was more important was the agency could play a role in strengthening security control in Sabah, especially in the east coast of the state.

"I'm aware of the changes that are to be made. We (the state government) will give our full support and co-operation as well as any proposal from the federal government to be implemented at the Sabah level because security is important," he said.

Shafie said this when he was asked to comment on a news portal report which cited sources who claimed that Esscom would be restructured to reduce costs.

- Bernama