KOTA KINABALU: Sabah and Sarawak can leverage their “kingmaker” status and push for a different political landscape for the entire country, says Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

The Parti Warisan president said he agreed with Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian that with the political situation in chaos, no single party would be able to win GE15 comfortably and whoever wants to form the federal government would need to turn to Sabah and Sarawak.

“I agree with that view because we have 31 parliamentary seats there (in Sarawak), and 25 here (in Sabah).

“If we are smart not to be controlled or dictated by those in Kuala Lumpur, we will call the shots.

“We have to set a different kind of political landscape in this country,” said Shafie.

He added that this is not just in the interests of Sabah, but for the whole nation and said that they also want stability and a democratic process where the voice of the people can be heard and the mandate of the people to be respected.

Shafie said this when asked to comment on the issue during the party’s roadshow at Matunggong, Kota Marudu on Thursday (Oct 13).

Shafie also revealed that he had some names of possible candidates, all of whom would be meticulously vetted.

“We will evaluate thoroughly starting from background checks on bankruptcy, MACC (cases if any), and other security elements the best I can.

“What is important is to have candidates who can serve constituents well. We don’t want them to win today’s elections but lose the next one,” he said.