DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke has rebuked Mohd Shafie Apdal for his “unprincipled” statement that Warisan was ready to work with any political coalition that wins the next general election.

Loke said only those crave positions will agree to work with “any coalition”.

“I’m saddened by what he said at a forum last Sunday. He said he was willing to work with any political coalition, be it Barisan Nasional, Perikatan Nasional or Pakatan Harapan that forms the government.

“His view seems to be unprincipled. Secondly, it’s absurd,” the Seremban MP said in a live online interview yesterday.

Warisan president Shafie had said that his party was ready to work with the winning coalition for the sake of political stability and the people’s interests.

The Semporna MP said as the winning party is chosen by the people, by co-operating with it, Warisan will be showing that it respects the voters’ choice.

He said it should be a smart and fair collaboration that puts the interests of the people first.

“Whether (the winning party is) BN, PN or PH, when the people have made a decision we have to respect it; we cannot just deny their rights. But I reject the Sheraton Move, (of politicians) jumping here and there, because that is not the people’s mandate,” Shafie had said, referring to the defection of Bersatu and PKR MPs in 2020 that led to the fall of the PH government.

“After the election, the people want political stability but there must be smart cooperation,” he said.

Loke asked Shafie why a winning coalition would want to work with other parties.

“This doesn’t make sense to me. They will only work with other parties if they lose,” said Loke.
 
“We need to strengthen ourselves first if we want post-election cooperation, that’s the major condition. We need to have a lot of new seats that we can use as bargaining chips.

“Otherwise, there’s no reason for them to negotiate or work with you.” – June 30, 2022.