Don’t believe ‘Facebook celebrity’ Najib, says Warisan’s Siambun

Warisan Supreme Council member Terrence Siambun has told Najib Razak the people should be given the opportunity to decide who they really want as their representatives.

KOTA KINABALU: A Warisan Supreme Council member has hit back at former prime minister Najib Razak for criticising Chief Minister Shafie Apdal for asking the state assembly to be dissolved.

Terrence Siambun took a swipe at Najib, calling him a “Facebook celebrity” and that the former prime minister should concentrate on the appeal after his conviction on the seven corruption charges in connection with RM42 million belonging to former 1MDB unit SRC International.

“Najib has been found guilty by the High Court. So, why should Sabahans listen to a Facebook celebrity who has been convicted of several criminal charges?” he said in a statement here today.

“He should instead focus on his court appeal.

“If I were Najib, I would try to show that I am indeed sorry for what I have done and hope for a lesser sentence,” he said.

“In view of the political uncertainty surrounding the state, it is the prerogative of the chief minister to return the power back to Sabahans by advising the head of state on the dissolution of the state assembly in order to pave the way for a snap election.”

Najib had hit out at Shafie following the latter’s announcement that the state assembly had been dissolved, saying the Sabah chief minister had made no such call to settle the uncertainty over his administration following the 2018 general election.

Accusing Shafie of stealing the people’s mandate through the defection of Barisan Nasional elected representatives to his camp, he said the Warisan president likewise did not call for a snap election last month, citing the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to resolve the economic crisis.

“Yet today, he asked for the state assembly to be dissolved, claiming that the people’s mandate which they robbed had been robbed.

“You need not worry about Sabah’s affairs. It’s better for you to focus on becoming the prime minister for PH Plus,” he had said in a Facebook post.

Siambun said he was perplexed why Najib found it difficult to understand that Shafie sought to dissolve the assembly to solve the political uncertainty in the state.

“Former chief minister Musa Aman claimed that he had 33 assemblymen with him. But, what will happen if three of them suddenly make a U-turn by supporting Shafie right after the former takes his oath as the new chief minister?

“Is it too hard for Najib to understand that Shafie doesn’t want the political uncertainty that is gripping the nation at the federal level to be repeated in Sabah?

“Najib should be very happy because Musa has been given a chance to prove himself as a worthy assemblyman in the upcoming election instead of being sour about it.”

Siambun also said that the defection of several assemblymen necessitated the snap election so that the people could be given the opportunity to decide who they really wanted as their representatives in the state assembly.

He added a fresh election was the “perfect time” for Sabahans to punish assemblymen who had betrayed the mandate given to them by the people, referring to elected reps who quit the Warisan-led state coalition.