Sabah Bersatu Information chief Khairul Firdaus Akhbar Khan has hailed the forthcoming Kimanis by-election as an opportunity for his party to build ties with Parti Warisan Sabah.

He said helping the Warisan candidate would establish Bersatu's sincerity and show that it was not out to undermine Warisan chief Shafie Apdal, who is also Sabah chief minister.

“Kimanis is a stepping stone for everybody to reconcile and our agenda is clear, which is to make sure the Warisan candidate wins and wins big at that,” said Khairul, according to a report in Free Malaysia Today.

He acknowledged that there were tensions between Warisan and Sabah Bersatu supporters, partly because some claimed that ex-CM Musa Aman was supportive of Sabah Bersatu.

Khairul denied any link with Musa and said that when Bersatu leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad allowed the party to open branches in Sabah, he did so with conditions.

“The first condition imposed on us was to assist Shafie Apdal and be the bridge between the federal and the state.

“The PM gave specific instructions that Shafie is the chief minister and we must work together with him to ensure all plans and directions of the state are implemented,” Khairul said.

It had earlier been touted that Sabah Bersatu was keen to field a candidate in Kimanis but, ultimately, the four parties of Sabah Pakatan Harapan unanimously decided that the candidate would be one from Warisan.

The Kimanis seat, held by former foreign minister Anifah Aman (above), fell vacant when the Federal Court on Dec 2 upheld a decision by the Election Court to nullify the parliamentary constituency's 14th general election polling result.

A by-election date is expected to be announced soon.

The petition was filed by defeated Warisan candidate Karim Bujang, who narrowly lost the seat to Anifah by 153 votes.

Sabah Bersatu was launched in April and was filled with defectors from Sabah Umno. This immediately strained its relations with Warisan.

Khairul also rebuked speculation that Sabah Bersatu would not give full assistance to Warisan in the Kimanis by-election.

“These are just wild accusations. In fact, we are so eager to go to Kimanis and help Warisan,” he said, adding that Sabah Bersatu members, especially those previously in Umno, needed time to get used to working with Warisan.

“In the last election, we were against them, so it’s not easy to quickly accept the situation now.” 

Sabah Bersatu has not been incorporated into the state government but Khairul believes it is only a matter of time for this to take place.

“Sooner or later, I believe, we will get a place in the government. Just give the chief minister some time to run the state," he said.