Shafie Posts Keep Calm Message On Social Media Amid Political Uncertainty

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KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal has urged Sabahans to “keep calm” amid the new political alignment in the Federal Government that possibly sees the Parti Warisan Sabah-led state government in the Opposition bloc
A photo of a smiling Shafie seen spending time with his newborn grandson Shazwan Azfar Shazni in Kuala Lumpur, with the message “keep calm and soldier on” was shared in social media
The Warisan president has not made any public statement and kept a low public profile since the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government and the swearing-in of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as Prime Minister on Sunday (March 1)
His party leaders including deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking and secretary-general Loretto Padua have doused rumours on social media that the party is losing assemblymen, and maintained that the Warisan coalition government, with Upko, DAP and PKR, was firmly in control
“It is all games being played by the (state) opposition to shake up the confidence and create doubts in the minds the people, ” said Loretto
Many observers believe that the political wrangling for support for Muhyiddin’s Federal Government continues
However, political lines have yet to be drawn clearly in Sabah and Umno is widely seen to be pushing for some of its former Barisan Nasional assemblymen to return to the party
In a Facebook posting, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that Barisan Nasional never lost as Sabah Umno’s Tan Sri Musa Aman was already sworn after the 2018 general election
But, Najib alleged that Barisan assemblymen switched camps when they were threatened with criminal investigations that led to Shafie being was sworn in as Chief Minister
Umno, which is now with the federal ruling coalition Perikatan Nasional, is eyeing to take back states including Sabah which it lost after Pakatan came to power
Musa has since lost his legal challenge on Shafie's appointment at both at the High Court and the Court of Appeal and is currently appealing the decisions at the Federal Court
Warisan, along with its partners, holds 48 seats in the 65-member assembly while the opposition, made up of Bersatu, Umno, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) and Sabah STAR, holds 17 seats. - FMT

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