Jeffrey warns: Stay out of seats Star is contesting
Published on: Friday, December 15, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) wants non-Gabungan Sabah opposition parties to stay out of seats it will be contesting in the coming general election or else there will be a backlash.In what sounded like a warning, its President Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan (pic) said if they insist on contesting in Star seats, the party will react by using what he advocates as the Malaya agenda versus Borneo agenda against them."That's why they must not clash with us. They must avoid going into that. If they insist on contesting (in the seats), of course we will use it (against them).
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"We'll tell (the voters) which option do they want, a Malaya agenda or Borneo agenda. We'll say (to the voters) that if they win, they will treat them just like how Malaya has been treating them. And if they choose a local party, it's no more than an 'Umno Team B'. So, in the end it's a choice between us and them, as simple as that," he said.Although he did not name the parties, he was obviously referring to peninsula-based Pakatan Harapan Sabah parties comprising the DAP, PKR and Amanah.
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Jeffrey had a few months ago accused Parti Warisan Sabah of being a proxy to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad's Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), which he also labelled as "Umno Team B."Alternatively, he said local opposition parties under Gabungan Sabah which advocate the Borneo agenda is the right choice for Sabah for it fights for the rights of Sabahans, autonomy and sovereignty of the State and wants Sabah to determine its own destiny.
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Recently, Jeffrey had said his party would be fielding more than a dozen candidates for state seats and a handful for parliamentary seats.With fellow parties in Gabungan Sabah also claiming their share state and parliamentary seats in Sabah, it is anyone's guess how many are there left for peninsula-based parties like the DAP, PKR and Amanah in the Pakatan Harapan coalition and Parti Warisan Sabah, as well as few other stand-alone ones.For Star, this is a matter for the fellow opposition parties to sort out and as long as they do not field candidates in seats allocated to the party, they are all still allies if they share the same objective to topple the BN in Sabah. Dr Jeffrey, however, believes the possibility is there for straight fights between the opposition parties and the BN components in most areas."If the parties are willing to talk, then the possibility of non-clashing is there. But there will be areas where we can't avoid facing other opposition parties. Let's see what happens," he said.He said Star is fully aware that the people expect only a one-on-one showdown between the opposition and BN in all areas so as to avoid making the mistake in the last general election."We've been telling the people that we listen to them and we want to do what they expect us to do. That's why we formed Gabungan Sabah. But others don't want to unite," he said.The Bingkor Assemblyman received a rude shock recently when Sabah DAP Chairman Stephen Wong announced it would contest in his constituency. The former reacted by questioning DAP's motive in wanting to field its candidate in the seat instead of one of the BN's.He had said the move would split opposition votes in favour of the BN. Dr Jeffrey, who won the Bingkor seat after polling 5,350 votes against BN's 4,894 and PKR's 2,368, is still sore by DAP's move."As I've said, they (any opposition parties) must not clash with us," he warned, without elaborating what action he would take. The veteran politician will officiate his party's first Annual General Meeting tomorrow (Saturday) in Tambunan where he is expected to deliver a hard-hitting and no-nonsense new policy approach to address problems faced by Sabahans.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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