KUALA LUMPUR, October 23 — Parti Warisan (Warisan) has big dreams. Bigger than its current size and clout in peninsular Malaysia.
Its peninsula chief coordinator Dr Rajiv Bhanot said the Sabah-based party formed in 2016 wants a political reset to enable Malaysians to move on from politics of hate and have a sense of belonging in this country that should be celebrated for its diversity instead of being divided by those differences.
“I think Warisan is a national, multiracial political party that believes in a moderate style of governance and this is something that the country very badly needs,” he told Malay Mail in a recent interview.
Dr Rajiv believes Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal is the leader who encapsulates these values and principles and has been consistent in upholding them during the party’s 29-month stint in governing Sabah after the 2018 elections.
Being consistent, Dr Rajiv said, builds a strong foundation that is necessary to carry the party’s aspirations forward.
Speaking of moderate, policy-driven style of politics, he held out Warisan’s achievements as clear examples of what the party could achieve nationally if given the chance.
He pointed out that the Warisan-led state government gave out over 4,000 land titles to individual Sabahans who had repeatedly applied for them for years.
He also pointed out the ban on exporting timber round logs back then, claiming it had solely benefitted a handful of private corporations, adding that the move had not hurt the local economy.
“Christmas, the only state in Malaysia where two public holidays are given. December 24 and 25 are public holidays in Sabah. Datuk Seri Shafie being a Muslim leader, did that because he was a Sabah chief minister for all Sabahans,” Dr Rajiv said.
He also pointed out that there were four ethnic Chinese state ministers in the Shafie Cabinet, the first in Sabah’s history.
“So when you look back at all of these policies that were implemented during our short 29 months stint running Sabah, it is more than just an election slogan when we talk about unity and moderation as we have actually done it. We have walked the talk,” Dr Rajiv said.
Just like how Warisan was launched in time for GE14 and was able to snatch Sabah from Umno, he is positive the same strategy will work for the party in the national election this time around.
To Dr Rajiv, there is not much difference between what voters in Sabah and peninsular Malaysia want and need.
He said Sabah and Sarawak were admired for their unity and racially and culturally tolerant policies, adding that the same reasons that drove voters in Sabah to vote in Warisan in 2018 will sway voters in the peninsula in its favour for GE15.
“The point here is that we need clarity and clearer policies. Warisan has shown how we made it work in Sabah.There has to be the implementation to improve certain policies.
“I think we need to update or we need to reform some of the existing policies in the country. Going around the country, looking at the rural heartlands of Malaysia, I see so many poor Malay children who are there with nothing. A lot of these policies have not benefited any of them. There needs to be improvements to these policies,” he stressed.
Dr Rajiv said that Warisan’s party constitution reflects its beliefs and that there is no discrimination in its policies, which makes it capable of being the force for change in the country.
“Our education system always teaches us that Malaysia is a peaceful nation and these are the things we have taken for granted for too long. The reality is different. There is a global recession coming our way. We are going to fall into a black hole unless we have a political reset now. Hence why Warisan wants to be the force of change post-GE15,” he said.
Warisan made its national launch on December 17 last year in Kuala Lumpur. Its first election outside Sabah was in Johor in the March 12 polls where it contested in six state seats (Mahkota, Bekok, Pekan Nenas, Permas, Johor Jaya and Bukit Batu) and lost all.
The Umno-led Barisan Nasional won 40 of the 56 state seats up for grabs, leaving Perikatan Nasional with just three seats, Pakatan Harapan with 12, and the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance with one.
Dr Rajiv felt that it was also inaccurate to pin Warisan’s Johor loss as a reason to doubt its political clout, saying that the party only had two weeks to build up its election machinery from scratch.
But he believes Warisan made an impact with the Johor election and will continue to grow nationally.
“I think firstly, people are suffering from a lot of political fatigue. I think that the general Malaysians are just too fatigued. We’ve had political turmoil over the last few years and we want to provide the voters with a choice. We want to provide the voters with a bit of clarity. You know Warisan going into GE15 on our own, is something we want voters to know that the party is trying to consolidate itself and we want to move away from politics of hate and what’s very important is that Malaysia needs a political reset post GE15.
“We cannot afford to have one more term of political turmoil. We have seen three governments in the last three years. It’s caused investor confidence to be at its lowest point in decades. Now the ringgit is weakening by the day, unemployment is at an all time high and these are actual issues and problems that need to be dealt with and we cannot do it with one more term of there being political instability,” he said.
He added that things have changed since Warisan went national with its Perlis launch, pointing out that all its peninsula state leaders have experience, and are locals.
He then rattled off the names of several prominent past lawmakers for the different states. In Perlis, it is former Perlis legislative assembly speaker Datuk Abdul Azib Saad; in Kedah, the former state executive councillor Fadzil Hanafi; in Penang it is former Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi; in Perak, Datuk Seri S. Sunther who is the son of the late Tan Sri S. Subramaniam.
“These are all local leaders in their respective states.
“And this is where we want to break the misconception that it is a Sabah party that is coming over here,” Dr Rajiv said.
