KOTA KINABALU, Dec 14 — Parti Warisan Sabah’s decision to expand to West Malaysia was made on its own because it feels it can provide an alternative to the current ethnic and religion-centric politics, one of its party leaders said today.

Its secretary-general Datuk Loretto Padua Jr, who was responding to critics, said that the decision was not influenced by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and was made independently to spread its concept of unity.

"The decision to expand the party to Semenanjung was made by the party alone and it was certainly not influenced by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad or any other individual.

"The concept of ‘unity’ and ‘building a nation and not a particular race or religion’ which form the foundation of Warisan has also captured the imagination of many Malaysians, especially those who are tired of the racial and religious polemics,” he said.

He said Malaysians who believe in dignified politics, credibility, tolerance and co-existence can view Warisan as an alternative political party that is congruent with these ideals.

"If political parties such as Umno, Bersatu, PAS, PKR or DAP can become national political parties and expand to Sabah, then why can’t Warisan do the same thing and offer its ideals and concepts to all Malaysians in the Peninsula?” he asked.

He believed that there is no reason why West Malaysians would not accept and support Warisan because the party advocates unity in a multi-ethnic society, of which Sabah has set a good example of.

"As a party that is modelled on Sabah’s multi-racial tolerance and harmony, Warisan is a very effective agent to promote these ideals in the country. We built this nation together.

"It doesn’t make sense at all to restrict Warisan within the confines of being a state-level party. This totally contradicts with the spirit of Sabah as an equal partner within the Federation of Malaysia as agreed upon by this country’s founding fathers in which Sabah also has a role in determining the direction of the country,” he said.

During the recent Warisan annual meeting here, president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal said the party had unanimously decided to spread its wings to the Peninsula, starting with branches and divisions in Johor and Selangor, where there are high concentrations of Sabahans.

He said Pakatan Harapan was at the risk of defeat in the next general election (GE15) if its current leaders were to remain at the helm.

News portal Free Malaysia Today then quoted University of Malaya (UM) socio-political analyst Awang Azman Pawi, who suggested that the move is for Dr Mahathir to gain a political platform should he fail to register his new Parti Pejuang Tanah Air.