GE14 | Parti Warisan Sabah president Mohd Shafie Apdal has denied that he is preventing Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad from visiting Sabah due to the mostly negative sentiments of the people in the state towards the former premier.

"It's not true. (It's) just that our force must be focused and divided to make sure where our strengths are.

"And we know Mahathir's strength is in the peninsula and my strength is in Sabah," Shafie told Malaysiakini after a party programme in Ranau today.

As a former Umno president, Mahathir's strength lies in toppling as many Umno seats in the peninsula, he added.

"Umno seats here can be toppled by the former vice-president of Umno," said Shafie in reference to himself.

"Accusations, perceptions on what is happening here is normal, what is important is not about whether Tun (Mahathir) can come or not, what we want is to topple Umno/BN."

Mahathir, he added, was much more needed in the peninsula than in Sabah.

Both BN and local opposition coalition Gabungan Sabah had claimed that Warisan was not bringing Mahathir to the state as the party was concerned about the local negative perception towards Mahathir.

Sabah BN secretary Abdul Rahman Dahlan had claimed that Shafie had advised Mahathir against visiting Sabah for the election.

Shafie, he had claimed, knew that Warisan would lose badly if he were to bring Mahathir to Sabah.

Gabungan Sabah leader Jeffrey Kitingan, on the other hand, had said both Harapan and Warisan do not want the former premier to come to the state as they understand the people's sentiments when it comes to Mahathir.

Meanwhile, when asked how he would convince Sabahans to accept Mahathir if the latter were to win in the election and thereafter appointed as prime minister again, Shafie cited Mahathir's contributions in the past for Sabah.

"Mahathir had done a lot not only in the peninsula (but) in Sabah, (too). Of course, humans make mistakes.

"(But) if Anwar (Ibrahim), Lim Kit Siang, can forget everything that happened before, for the general interest, why can't we as Malaysians, as Sabahans?"

Political analyst Arnold Puyok recently cited Mahathir's marred reputation in Sabah in saying that this was proving to be an obstacle in Shafie's efforts to topple BN.

Many Sabahans believe that Mahathir had neglected the state during his 22 years as premier.

Many Sabahans also equate Mahathir with "Project IC" which saw thousands of foreigners in the state being given citizenship. The project had dramatically altered the state's demography.