AFTER resigning from Umno last month, Kimanis MP Anifah Aman hinted at plans to build a new platform to keep his political struggles alive and to fight for the special rights of Sabah.

The former foreign minister asked about 800 of his constituents during an event whether he should build “rumah baru”, to which they responded with a loud “setuju”.

When asked, Anifah appeared non-committal to any specific goals at present, but indicated the need will arise depending on the new government’s effort to reinstate the terms of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and state rights.

“It could be forming a new party, or be in Gabungan Bersatu Sabah, or use another party.

“As for now, it is too early to discuss as the needs will change as time goes by,” said Anifah, adding that he will be watching closely discussions on restoring Sabah and Sarawak’s equal status in Malaysia during the parliamentary session next week.

Anifah was rumoured to be planning to form a new party or take over Parti Anak Negeri.

Anifah said he and the other MPs like Jeffrey Kitingan (Keningau) and Libaran MP Zakaria Edris will support any bill that will see to the Borneo states’ status restored.

“Anyhow, we will be looking into any bills to reinstate the equal status before making our views known in Parliament later,” he said.

Anifah said this during his explanatory programme in Kimanis today.

Also present were Jeffrey, Zakaria, Sook assemblyman Elron Angin and Sukau assemblyman Saddi Abdul Rahman.

The issue of MA63 and special rights of the state had always been used by Sabah political parties to win votes, including by Sabah Umno.

Earlier, the former Kimanis Umno chief noted that he had been the first one to raise the MA63 issue to former prime minister Najib Razak and had started the ball rolling in Sabah to reinstate state rights.

He noted that the failure of the Barisan Nasional government to retain power in the May 9 polls also marked his time to call it quits from the party. – October 12, 2018.