Anifah: I met Mohamaddin to talk about state rights

KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Anifah Aman has brushed aside talk that he tried to lure a former Cabinet minister to switch political allegiance, saying that he met with Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi to talk about state rights.

Anifah, who is a former foreign minister, said that he discussed with Mohamaddin on the need to work with the Federal government to regain state rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

“I told him that the number of MP seats in Sabah and Sarawak totalled up to only 56, so we should work with the Federal government in efforts to regain our rights under MA63 in the interest of Sabahans.

“I would say the same if any of my friends asked me. As someone who loves my state, I am more focused on this,” Anifah said in a statement late Thursday.

His remarks came about after Parti Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal accused him (Anifah) of enticing the former Federal tourism minister, who is with Warisan, to join Perikatan Nasional.

Anifah, however, did not directly address Shafie’s claims.

He merely said that he was always discussing state rights with friends and that Mohamaddin was someone he knew from way back when studying together in England.

On Thursday, Shafie told reporters that Mohamaddin had told him that Anifah had made three calls to him asking him to leave Warisan.

Shafie had accused Perikatan Nasional of a “grand plan” to lure Warisan’s lawmakers with positions.

Anifah, who lost his Kimanis parliamentary seat earlier this year after an Election Court nullified the May 2018 election results, has dubbed himself as a politician on pension with no position either in state or Federal level.

In a tongue-in-cheek reply to Shafie’s accusations, Anifah thanked him for “remembering to mention a pensioner”.

“Even though I have no position, my name is still being mentioned. Maybe this is because I have contributed a lot to the state so it’s hard for him to forget my name,” said Anifah, the younger brother of former chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman who is widely seen to be marshalling a move to take back the state from Warisan.

Anifah is currently working to merge three local-based parties and is expected to lead the proposed Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah.

On Thursday, 47 assemblymen and 15 MPs from Warisan and its partner Upko, DAP and PKR turned up at a luncheon to show solidarity for Shafie.

I told him that we should work with the Federal government in efforts to regain our rights in the interest of Sabahans.

Datuk Seri Anifah Aman