KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan Sabah’s Sindumin assemblyman Datuk Dr Yusof Yacob (pic) has quit the party, saying that there is no benefit sitting on the Opposition bench for the next four years.
He said it would be a wasted mandate if he continued on as an opposition assemblyman without being able to serve his constituents in Sabah’s southwestern Sipitang district.
Announcing his resignation from Warisan yesterday to be an Independent supportive of both the federal and state governments, Dr Yusof said it was important to be with the government to solve various issues in his constituency.
“From now on, I can meet any leader and official from both government and opposition sides anytime I want without having people talk behind my back,” said the 66-year-old veteran Sabah politician who is formerly from Umno.
However, he remained coy on whether he would join any of the political parties currently in government at either the federal or state level.
He said his decision was encouraged by the advice of the King and the Sabah Yang di-Pertua Negeri who had urged politicians to adopt bipartisan politics to help overcome the Covid-19 pandemic and revive the country’s economy.
“In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and the suffering of the people, as well as in heeding the King and TYT’s call, I choose to support Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor,” he said.
He also said he had spoken to Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, whom he claimed did not object to his decision.
“Politics is not static; today we can be friends and tomorrow we can be foes. I hope in future we can be together again.
“Friends will be friends but as an assemblyman, I have to think about my constituents,” added Dr Yusof, who made a political comeback in 2018 when he joined Warisan to win the state election under the Warisan Plus coalition.
A former minister in Shafie’s state cabinet, Dr Yusof made headlines in July 2020 when he claimed that he was offered RM40mil to cross over to a coalition of the then Opposition parties trying to take over the state government.
However, the bid failed and Sabah went into a snap election in September last year with the Warisan Plus government ousted by the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah coalition involving Barisan Nasional, Perikatan Nasional and Parti Bersatu Sabah.
Dr Yusof is the second Warisan assemblyman to quit the party, after Sebatik’s Hassan Amir Gani on Feb 25, since the Sept 26 snap election last year.
Warisan, which won 23 seats in the state election, is the single largest party in the current state assembly. With the two resignations and the death of Bugaya assemblyman Manis Mukah Mohd Darah on Nov 17 last year, the party is left with 20 assemblymen in the current 78-member assembly that includes six nominated assemblymen.
Meanwhile, Warisan has described the departure of Dr Yusof, who was its information chief, as a “minor setback” for the party.
“Warisan started off with only two MPs and three assemblymen (when it was formed in 2016),” said its vice-president Datuk Junz Wong.
“This is a minor setback. It won’t change our plan and determination to focus on the next general election which is just months away.”
Warisan secretary-general Datuk Loretto Padua said the party would make a decision in due time on Dr Yusof’s pre-signed resignation letter to State Assembly Speaker Datuk Kadzim Yahya.
All Warisan candidates have pre-signed letters to allow their seats to be vacated if they quit the party.