Shafie: Serving the people comes first, not the post

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said his focus now was on serving the people of Sabah, not a Cabinet post.

“My stand is firm and consistent, which is to champion the interests of the Sabah people, not personal interest.

“I’m thinking about the people of Sabah, not about the post.

“Whether I’ll be appointed a minister or deputy prime minister is not my priority.

“What is important is my mission now, which is to serve the people of Sabah because I do not want the trust they have given me all the while to be destroyed,” he told a media conference at his residence here yesterday. He said this when asked whether he would accept a federal post if offered.

Shafie won the Semporna parliamentary seat and the Senallang state seat in the just-concluded general election, hence enabling him to be appointed as a federal minister or head the Sabah government with the support of allied parties in the state.

Meanwhile, Shafie said the trust given to him by the people of Sabah was a “shock” for Barisan Nasional.

Warisan won 21 of the 60 state seats it contested, PKR two and DAP six, while Barisan won 28 seats – Umno 16, PBS six, Upko five and PBRS one.

Two other seats were won by Sabah STAR.