KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan Sabah will work towards a coalition with the yet-to-be-registered Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) after the Sabah-based Opposition party spreads its wings to Peninsular Malaysia on Dec 17.

       Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said he had met with Muda protem president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and his committee members to discuss a possible coalition with the youth-based party.

       “Syed Saddiq and I have spoken. It’s already quite clear on our working relationship.

       “We’d see how best we can realise the coalition,” he told reporters after opening the Putatan Warisan division meeting here yesterday.

       The much-talked-about Warisan expansion to the peninsula is widely seen as the formation of a third political force in national politics as neither Warisan nor Muda has aligned itself with Pakatan Harapan since the coalition fell in 2020.

       Shafie said an incumbent Selangor state assemblyman was expected to be among the new Warisan members when it launches in the peninsula on Dec 17.

       Shafie, who did not name the assemblyman, said Warisan was getting a positive response from various groups for the party to expand to the peninsula.

       He added that the party would gradually spread to certain areas in the peninsula and stressed that it had no ambitious plans.

       “I will name the protem leaders and committee members in certain states.

       “I have the list, and we are still studying and verifying the details on who could be the best choice for the party’s protem leaders,” he said.

       Warisan, he said, would remain selective in the areas it launched in.

       “There are certain places that we might not want go in (but) it would depend on our ability to have a better impact in the coming general election.

       “What is important for us is that we just need to expand. We cannot be too ambitious to spread to the whole country. We know our capacity, but we must be ready for the general election to be called anytime next year or whenever,” he added.

       Meanwhile, Selangor’s independent assemblyman Bryan Lai is the one being courted by Warisan to join the party’s peninsular chapter.

       When contacted, the Teratai assemblyman confirmed that he had been invited not only by Warisan but also other parties such as Parti Kuasa Rakyat, which was recently set up by the Prime Minister’s brother, Kamarazaman Yaakob.

       Lai, 47, resigned from DAP earlier this year after he was accused of marital infidelity by an unknown third party on social media. He had said then that he was quitting the party to protect its image.

       On the possibility of him joining Warisan, Lai said he had some close friends among Warisan leaders and they had pitched to him the idea of joining their party.

       “I can’t say much about it now as I have not made any concrete decisions yet,’’ he added.