PARTI Warisan Sabah might complement the process of political transformation in Malaysia. This is the first time in history a political process has been reversed in the country.
This is the case of the bold entrance of a Sabah-based party going national; thus shedding its regional or parochial interests.
And the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) party formalised its ties with Warisan. On December 17, the party made its grand entrance announcement in Kuala Lumpur promising Malaysians that it will work with all to deliver them from the evils of racism and religious extremism.
It was also announced that Warisan will become the party for all, as the Malays are divided between UMNO and PAS, with the Chinese and Indians caught in the archaic representations of MCA and MIC.
It was just like what the former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said on the eve of this country’s Independence in 1965–that the country was for all Singaporeans immaterial of their ancestry or background.
And Warisan’s president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal is not a newcomer to politics. He successfully guided the party to victory in Sabah with the cooperation of Pakatan Harapan in 2018.
He emerged as a national figure so much so that some quarters even suggested him to be the prime ministerial candidate, an alternative to PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Warisan’s call to move away from the grips of racial and religious extremism might suggest that the party might want to be an alternative to parties such as the DAP and PKR.
Apdal even suggested that parties proclaiming themselves as multi-racial are not really true to the claim made.
Deep divide in Peninsula a challenge
It is not clear as to how the party is going to deal and overcome the extremely divisive fissures such as race and religion. Many parties in the past have tried but were “swallowed” by these divisions.
In overcoming the existing perennial divisions, Warisan needs to first conceptualise and articulate the problem before overcoming them in a political process. Support for the party might not be automatic as social divisions are much more deep and stubborn to be removed.
It is much more difficult and perilous to overcome these man-made divisions in the Peninsula rather than in the regions of Sabah or Sarawak.
However, it appears that Warisan is moving with much interest and zeal. There are already apprehensions from fraternal parties in the Peninsula that the support base for Warisan might not be too different from theirs.
It is too early to raise speculative fears about the entry of Warisan and whether its expansion might pose a threat to existing parties in the Opposition.
But it is a multi-racial party that seeks to overcome the impermeable divisions to unite Malaysians of all walks of life. There is nothing wrong or objectionable for it to make this call and it should be welcomed.
Malaysian politics is getting more complex. No one party can command the support of all Malaysians, not mentioning the toxic ethnic and religious divisions.
The chances of Warisan joining forces with other Opposition parties are real, something to be welcomed and promoted. Hopefully, it will not engage in displacement politics, but politics of joining forces with like minded forces in a complex political process.
The stronger we fight the politics of sectarianism; the chances are better to transform the political system as a whole
In this respect, I welcome the entry of Warisan into Peninsula politics with the aim of political transformation. – Dec 19, 2021.
Photo credit: The Star
