Shafie tells PN: Stop politicking, let's work together to help people
Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal has called for a halt in politicking and stressed the importance of the state and federal governments to join hands in helping the people impacted by the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.
This came after the Warisan-led Sabah government survived a renewed political coup attempt by political opponents last week, with the first try to oust the state government made in June.
Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal has called for a halt in politicking and stressed the importance of the state and federal governments to join hands in helping the people impacted by the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.
This came after the Warisan-led Sabah government survived a renewed political coup attempt by political opponents last week, with the first try to oust the state government made in June.
Without naming anyone, Shafie (above) urged politicians to stop politicking and not to engage in meaningless disputes in the Dewan Rakyat.
"I would like to stress that the state government is prepared to work with the federal government, this is not to seek political popularity, but to save the people who are impacted by the coronavirus," he said on Facebook yesterday.
"More than 100,000 people in Sabah are unemployed now. We should not be wasting our time in politicking. Our priority is to ensure the people are protected," he added.
Shafie expects to see many suffering financial constraints when the six-month moratorium on bank loans ends on Sept 30.
He said the cooperation between Sabah and Putrajaya is meant to save the people.
"Sabah is the richest state in terms of natural resources with 37 percent of the country's oil source coming from here, but Sabah is still the poorest state.
"As such, stop the meaningless dispute in the Dewan Rakyat, it is more important how the leader implements rather than speaks," he added.
The first political coup saw two lawmakers quit their party Upko last month.
Speculation had been rife that the Sabah government would fall in July, following an attempt from the Perikatan Nasional side to persuade the lawmakers to quit their parties.
There were also reports of tax officers visiting lawmakers' houses, while others were contacted by political agents with offers.
On July 23, Singapore's Straits Times reported Sabah was on the verge of changing government with at least 14 assemblypersons agreeing to desert the chief minister.
Currently, Warisan still has the backing of 43 assemblypersons out of the 60 elected state representatives. This does not include the five state assemblypersons appointed by Warisan.
Report this comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
This action cannot be undone.