Called 'greedy' but Bumburing still hopeful of deal with Warisan

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) and Parti Anak Negeri's unhappiness does not seem to be with the supreme leaders who recently abandoned the parties, but most likely are towards Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan).

"As far as PCS is concerned, it doesn't affect us," said the party's president Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Bumburing when asked about the impact on the Anak Negeri-Cinta Sabah pact.

He noted that the former members have little negotiating power and only ex-deputy president Datuk Dr Richard Gunting might have something to offer to another party.

Bumburing claimed that Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal had called him greedy for wanting to negotiate for the Kadazan, Dusun, Murut and Rungus (KDMR) seats and he was also accused of abandoning negotiations with Warisan in order to make a pact with Anak Negeri.

However, he said he was still hopeful that Warisan would work something out with the newly formed pact for the sake of winning the general election in the state.

Anak Negeri president Datuk Henrynus Amin said the pact had been formed so they could be in a better bargaining position when negotiating with bigger opposition pacts for the creation of a new government in Malaysia.

He stressed the pact had not been formed for personal interest gains.

"No. Think about the bigger picture. We believe that before we can even talk to the other political parties we have to create this Kadazandusun, Momogun unity first," said Henrynus.

"People say the KDMR is being divided but there are only three parties, PCS, STAR and Anak Negeri, under the opposition. So PCS and Anak Negeri have united. For GS (Gabungan Sabah) STAR, there are constraints. We do not say never but there are issues on struggles and belief, if we could solve this there would be no problem but we see that it is not easy.

"We (PCS and Anak Negeri) see in terms of struggles and leadership there is no friction. We may need to streamline our strategy in terms of winnable areas, winnable candidates, but we do not want that to be the big issue. The big challenge now is to unite. At the end of the day, everybody has to subordinate their personal interests," he explained.

According to Henrynus, during discussions with Warisan, the party seemed to have already staked a claim to both the KDMR and Bajau Suluk areas, which had been strongholds of Umno leaders.

He said he had convinced the winnable candidates from their Bumiputera and Chinese wings to take a back seat for the 14th general elections (GE14) as a sign of respect for Warisan.

"Why can't you convince yours, this is what I am saying now. If they still want (KDMR seats), this is an area where Wilfred and I will discuss," questioned Henrynus.

"They called Wilfred by name, you know. Greedy. They said he wanted all the KDM seats, but who is greedy? They have forgotten themselves, he wants to take up all the Umno areas and then have a bigger feast in the KDM areas.

“In our negotiations, the Bajau Suluk areas are non negotiables because it is theirs and they (Warisan) only want to negotiate for the KDM seats. Is that fair? Not fair.

"They also claim that we are supposedly not strong. They said PCS is not strong, PCS will lose, Anak Negeri will lose, Wilfred will lose because there is no money. Just because we do not have money, they say that. If you want to help, help," he added in frustration.

"We don't have stolen money to spend," Bumburing quipped.

Both presidents confirmed that they will contest in GE14 according to the needs of the pact.

"Our stance is leader, if we feel we can win, we feel we are needed, we will contest. If we are not winnable, there is no need to force, there are many more youths," said Henrynus.

"It's not about us wanting a position. We really want to lead and buildup the KDMR," he clarified.