It is now evident that the party, which will celebrate its first anniversary next week, has appealed to the masses in Sabah. Thousands throng its assemblies.
This is despite the lingering accusations of corruption involving the Sabah Water Department. The scandal broke a few days before Warisan’s inception. The alleged corruption took place during Shafie’s tenure as federal rural and regional development minister.
Shafie immediately said he was ready to cooperate with the investigators. However, he was never summoned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
In the past few days, MACC has been making headlines with fresh arrests in another case involving Shafie’s old ministry. This one hit closer to home. The graft busters have arrested Warisan vice-president and Shafie’s key ally, Peter Anthony, and the party’s youth chief, Mohd Azis Jamman, who is Shafie’s nephew. Even the two Umno Youth leaders arrested with Azis have had connections with Shafie. Hamid Apdal, Shafie’s younger brother has also been arrested by the MACC.
Again, Shafie announced his readiness to cooperate with the investigators, adding that it was nothing but political intimidation by the government.
However, there is a question as to whether this new case will take the wind out of Shafie’s sails and put a dent in Warisan’s election hopes. The arrests are in connection with alleged embezzlement of funds meant for rural projects in Sabah.
Immediate reactions were positive for Warisan, with the party’s supporters rallying behind its beleaguered leaders and accusing the government of resorting to blackmail to stem the party’s progress.
On social media, Warisan supporters and opposition parties have condemned the arrests, branding them as a government scare tactic and an example of political assassination.
Even former state secretary Simon Sipaun agreed that this was a kind of political intimidation designed to silence Warisan.
“Shafie knew this would happen,” Sipaun said. “He has said it before. But he left Umno anyway and I think this is the price he has to pay.”
Sabah Umno deputy information chief Ramlee Marhaban has called on opposition parties and their supporters to allow MACC to do its job.
The alleged corruption is linked to projects worth RM7.5 billion. These are projects aimed at providing rural folk with electricity and clean water, building roads for their use, aiding the poorer members of their communities and feeding the poor students among them through the Additional Food Programme.
Going by MACC’s allegations, individuals siphoned up to 20% of the money to line their pockets.
Shafie himself was once linked with misappropriation of funds in his role as a federal minister. In 2011, Kota Kinabalu MP Hiew King Cheu accused his ministry of approving tenders worth as much as 15 times the expected price with several projects given to select contractors.
If the new corruption charges are genuine, they could explain why, even with the government throwing money to provide water to, say, Paitan in Kudat, the people there continue to suffer during the dry season. Churches operating in the area have even reported cases of famine among the natives because of the drought.
In Pagalungan, locals who have been waiting for electricity for decades are left wondering when they will get to enjoy continuous power supply. Electricity poles already planted along the roads have been left to rot.
Road connections remain a major problem in Sabah. Who can forget the image of the buffalo ambulance a few years ago?
Some of these problems could have been addressed if the money meant to benefit the people was used accordingly.
It is true that Warisan has been making headway in the interior, thanks largely to Peter’s influence in his capacity as KDM Malaysia president. But if people in the rural areas believe the allegations, they might re-think their political allegiance.
Political analyst Zainnal Ajamain says he would not be surprised if Shafie, pushed to a corner, were to relent and rejoin Umno.
On the other hand, he said, if this case turned out to be similar to the water scandal, people would view it as a drama staged by BN and Warisan, proving that the two parties had all along been in cahoots.
“If Shafie or other Warisan leaders are arrested,” he said, “it will become a badge of honour for them because they will be looked at as victims of tyranny.
“Right now, though, we can only speculate.”