KOTA KINABALU, June 18 — Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal has waved off rumours of him becoming deputy prime minister as the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition grapples with who will be their candidate for prime minister.
Shafie said that there were all kinds of possibilities for Sabah and Sarawak, before adding that positions in the federal government were not as important as actually running the country.
“There are a lot of suggestions now. Even in the current government, there are considerations for Sabahans and Sarawakians. But I’m not running for any kind of post. What’s important to me is running the state, helping the people and developing our economy.
“Just because you have a post does not mean anything will be handed to you. There are many posts being held by Sabahans and Sarawakians — we’ve had Sabah and Sarawak affairs minister, deputy home minister … what have they done?” he said.
Shafie said that the vying for posts has been going on for a long time along with talk of a Sabahan or Sarawakian holding the deputy prime minister post.
“It’s up to them. For me, the focus is on running the state right now, and uniting Sabahans,” he said.
The rumour emerged after PH leaders failed to come to a consensus on who between Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would be the prime minister after a much-publicised Pakatan Plus meeting at the PKR headquarters on Tuesday.
Sources said that Shafie was proposed for the deputy prime minister post along with Anwar but this was later changed as Anwar is allegedly eyeing the prime minister post.
Several sources have suggested that Anwar is currently seeking support to be a prime minister candidate from East Malaysian politicians on his own.
One of the conditions for the Dr Mahathir-Anwar combination has been for Anwar to acquire a show of support from both Sabah and Sarawak.
