PKR leaders push back against Shafie, cite Sabah defeat and budget absence
PKR leaders have pushed back against attempts by Warisan president Shafie Apdal to position himself as an alternative to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
They cited, among others, Warisan's failure to retain the Sabah government in the recently concluded state election and also Shafie's absence during the Budget 2021 vote at the committee stage.
"Before offering himself to lead the opposition, Shafie should first explain why didn't he turn up for all the voting sessions...
PKR leaders have pushed back against attempts by Warisan president Shafie Apdal to position himself as an alternative to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
They cited, among others, Warisan's failure to retain the Sabah government in the recently concluded state election and also Shafie's absence during the Budget 2021 vote at the committee stage.
"Before offering himself to lead the opposition, Shafie should first explain why didn't he turn up for all the voting sessions in Parliament," PKR vice-president Chang Lih Kang said in a Twitter post.
Meanwhile, Sabah PKR information chief Simsudin Sidek said Shafie need to look into the defeat of the Warisan Plus alliance in Sabah.
"Shafie needs to acknowledge his own weaknesses in his recent failure to win the Sabah election.
"Warisan was a serious liability in the Sabah electoral failure as it failed to win the people's confidence," he said in a statement.
The Warisan Plus coalition failed to hold on the power during September's Sabah polls after only winning 32 seats to the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah's 38 seats.
Independent candidates also picked up three seats.
Warisan won 23 sets, DAP six, PKR two and Upko one. In contrast, their rivals Umno took 14, Bersatu 11, PBS seven and STAR six.
"If Sabah was properly governed, then Warisan Plus would have been able to win more than 50 seats in the Sabah election," Simsudin said.
He also criticised Shafie's absence during the voting process of the federal budget at the committee stage.
Warisan was absent from the initial rounds of voting on Budget 2021 during the committee stage in the Dewan Rakyat to express displeasure at Anwar after he instructed the opposition not to seek bloc voting when the fiscal document passed the policy stage.
"This shows Warisan is an irrelevant party for the 15th general election. This immature act is a betrayal to the people who voted for them," Simsudin said.
He said Warisan should focus on the struggle for Sabahans instead of trying to push Shafie as a prime ministerial candidate.
This is after Shafie yesterday urged the opposition to institute a leadership change, in reference to Anwar, without mentioning him.
Shafie, while not explicitly saying it, also positioned himself as an alternative by emphasising on his track record and vision for the country.
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