SABAH Chief Minister Shafie Apdal today downplayed talk that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has avoided visiting the state since taking office because he was not welcome.

He admitted there had been anti-Dr Mahathir sentiments in Sabah but that was during the time he was in the Barisan Nasional government.

He said the anger had been directed not at Dr Mahathir but at the federal government then.
 
“It was purely for the government of the day, which at the time was BN,” Shafie told reporters after witnessing rehearsals for Malaysia Day celebrations in Kota Kinabalu.

He said the opposition party leaders in Sabah had agreed that Dr Mahathir would lead the charge to overthrow BN in Peninsular Malaysia.

Dr Mahathir, who chairs Pakatan Harapan, was not seen at all in Sabah during the 14th general election campaign.

There was speculation then that this was deliberate to avoid rekindling anger at old issues that had cropped up when he was prime minister for the first time, such as the controversial “Project IC” in the 1990s which led to a boom in the immigration population.

But Shafie today said that he had advised Dr Mahathir, who had wanted to visit Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu during the GE14 campaign, to focus on taking BN down where Pakatan Harapan was strongest, which was the peninsula.

“It was a tactical move, it was not so much he didn’t want to come here but a tactical move for him to be focused on the areas where his influence was very much needed,” the Parti Warisan Sabah chief said

Shafie said Sabahans could not deny that the GE14 regime change icame about because of Dr Mahathir.

“We couldn’t have had change without the efforts of Dr Mahathir. We have to appreciate what he has done.”

Dr Mahathir is scheduled to visit Sabah for Malaysia Day celebrations tomorrow.

The last time he was in the Bornean state was in 2015, when he visited Tawau to attend an event organised by a non-governmental organisation. –  September 15, 2018.