KOTA KINABALU: To be a Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) candidate, an individual must meet the criteria laid down by party president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal.
The individual must be a winnable candidate and most importantly be loyal to the party, said Shafie.
“There is no point if the individual is highly educated but not winnable. There is also no point if the candidate is highly educated and winnable but leaves the party for another after winning in the election,” he stressed.
“If they switch allegiance then our hopes of making a change cannot be achieved,” he said, adding that the candidate must also have some background in politics, the ability to be the people’s representative and vocal.
This is what Warisan leaders must look into, he said when met at the party’s roadshow in Papar on Saturday.
“We need to look at how we can succeed in making a major change and overthrow Barisan Nasional (BN) in Sabah. We need to make this big change in Sabah and throughout the country.
“If we can overthrow BN in Sabah, it will be a major political landscape changer in the country,” the Semporna member of parliament said.
He also said that the Warisan leadership had a meeting on Friday and among the issues discussed were on candidates, areas they need to strengthen and logistics.
Shafie added that to make the major change, Warisan must win the election with a huge majority.
“We cannot win with a small majority of five seats because people are easily bought. We need a huge mandate to make a major change in Sabah so that we will have two thirds majority in the State Assembly,” he said.
On the roadshow in Papar, Shafie said that he was happy with the turnout which included members from 23 Umno branches.
According to him about 1,000 of those former Umno members have applied to join Warisan.
“This is a good sign as it shows positive results to all the preparation we have put in to garner the support of the rakyat. I would like to advise Warisan leaders not to be over confident and to work harder, especially in getting closer to those who are at home.
“We can hold gatherings but not everyone attends. We do not know what is on the minds of those at home so we need to reach out to them as many as possible and make sure that they come out to vote on election day,” he said.