KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 — Despite having expanded to the peninsula, Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) will not be working with the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition for the coming Johor state election, its president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said today.

The Semporna MP said that Warisan — which started in Sabah — is focused on strengthening its base providing Malaysians an alternative to the current political parties, news portal The Vibes reported.

Shafie also said he had worked with parties on both sides of the political divide to improve Malaysia’s fortunes, but found it didn’t work.

"I have already worked with all of them. But when I did, while in Umno, the country’s situation turned bad.

"I had also worked with PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and DAP’s Lim Guan Eng and Lim Kit Siang.

"But now what is important is to strengthen my own house and, at the same time, provide Malaysians with a new political choice,” he was quoted saying.

Shafie added that he would announce Warisan’s decision on whether the party would contest at the Johor state election when he visits the southern peninsular state next month.

"I have instructed our machinery in Johor to assess the situation before a decision is made on the matter. There are already too many state elections. We already had Melaka and Johor, and we would not know which state will hold theirs next and at the same time the general election is also to be held soon.

"At the same time, Warisan members also feel that we should not stand and watch from the sidelines when these states hold their polls because if the federal election is called, Warisan needs assemblyman's help,” he was quoted saying.

On January 24, PH chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that the coalition plans to bring together all Opposition political parties to contest all 56 seats at the upcoming Johor state election.

Anwar’s plan to rope in all opposition parties — including Warisan, Muda and Pejuang — is to ensure that Barisan Nasional and Umno would be defeated at the state polls, which he said would hopefully lead to wins for the coalition at the next general election.