KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan Sabah’s (Warisan) door is still open for negotiation with other opposition parties in the coming general election, said its secretary general Loretto Padua Jr.
“But in the negotiation, the interest of Sabah must be taken care of.
“Warisan is created out of the demand of Sabahans.
“So we have to work for the Sabahans and let our president handle this matter,” he said in a press conference yesterday.
On Sabah Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) election manifesto to have a deputy prime minister to represent East Malaysia in the Federal Government, Loretto said a manifesto had to be realistic.
“I do not want to comment, I take it as a positive sign.
“They are our fellow opposition, they also want to topple BN and we respect their struggle.”
For Warisan, Loretto said a manifesto had to be realistic and not to make promises which were hard to realize.
Adding on, Central Wira chief Dato’ Mohd Azis bin Haji Jamman said Warisan would only discuss or negotiate with parties that were serious in toppling Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno.
He said PH’s manifesto to allocate the deputy prime minister’s post to Sabah or Sarawak was a good sign.
“It shows that even PH sees how important Sabah is in the formation of the Federal Government.
“For us in Sabah, it is time we have to trust Sabahans.”
He said the people of Sabah had to learn from history.
“Last time, Umno has promised a rotation system for the chief minister’s post (in Sabah) but that was scrapped later on.”
Similarly, Azis said PH could have scrapped the allocation of deputy prime minister’s post for East Malaysia when they grew stronger.
“It is time Sabahans trust Sabahans more.
“To put our hopes on Malayan parties again… we do not want to accuse, but we do not want to escape from a lion’s jaws just to enter into a dragon’s mouth.
“No one knows Sabah better than Sabahans,” he stressed.