KOTA KINABALU, Jan 22- Warisan tonight landed its first West Malaysian elected representative in Teratai assemblyman Bryan Lai Wai Chong, who announced he was now officially a member of the multiracial party.
Lai, formerly from DAP Selangor, said he joined Warisan because he believed in the multicultural platform of the experienced Datuk Shafie Apdal.
He is among several other leaders from the peninsular who announced they were joining Warisan at the party’s Unity Night gathering today.
Aside from Lai, former Penang DAP leader Datuk Danny Law, former Johor Umno assemblyman Suhaimi Salleh, ex-DAP MP Jeff Ooi and former MIC central committee member S. Sunther also officially declared their support for Warisan.
“Shafie is a moderate and open-minded leader; this is what we need right now. We need a true multiracial party.
“I believe in his leadership and we will work hard to ensure that he will be the next PM after GE15,” said Lai, adding that he was pleased to finally announce the next step in his political journey.
Sunther also said that he believed in Shafie’s leadership and vision, and saw a multiracial approach as the way forward in the current climate.
Shafie, who was suspended from Umno and subsequently resigned, began Warisan in 2016 as Parti Warisan Sabah, an Opposition party based in Sabah with the aim of taking over the Sabah government.
In 2018, it helped Pakatan Harapan win the general election and gained control of the Sabah state government, but lost the 2020 state election Shafie triggered in response to a takeover attempt from Umno.
Severing ties with PH, Warisan officially went national last December and dropped “Sabah” from its name and has been on an active recruiting campaign in Peninsular Malaysia.
