Kota Kinabalu: Aging Kadazandusun Murut Rungus (KDMR) leaders who came together to make a rare impassioned plea on Tik Tok for the community to unite under local parties in Saturday’s Sabah election have been accused of being the very reason for the disunity.
According to an activist, these individuals did little to stop West Malaysian parties from coming and allegedly stripping Sabah of what rightfully belongs to the state and even benefited. He did not elaborate.
“Now they’re talking about uniting and fighting, but fighting against what? As far as I know, they’re just fighting each other, using Malayan parties and the Federal Government as the bogeymen.
“They may talk about the unity but they just want to be warlords. All these KDMR leaders are singing the same song and just want to outdo each other,” he told FMT.
Senior KDMR leaders like Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) founder Joseph Pairin Kitingan, Upko (once named Parti Demokratik Sabah) president Bernard Dompok and Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) president Jeffrey Kitingan appeared gathered over a table urging Sabahans to unite and back Sabah-based parties.
They were also joined by PBS acting president Dr Joachim Gunsalam, Upko president Ewon Benedick and former chief justice Richard Malanjum.
Jeffrey, Ewon and Joachim maintained that their KDMR-based parties share a common vision for Sabah. However, this does not prevent them fighting each other in several constituencies. Star and Upko, especially, clash in more than 20 constituencies.
Upko recently left PH (Pakatan Harapan), while Star quit the ruling Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition, with both pushing their respective “Sabah First” and “Sabah for Sabahans” slogans.
Pairin founded PBS in 1985 after he broke away from Berjaya, but his party also suffered from rifts that led to the formation of multiple splinter parties, including first PDS and then Upko 2.0, Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah, the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) and the now-defunct Parti Akar.
According to the KDMR activist, the local party sentiment is very strong within the community. However, due to the political fragmentation, none of these parties appear to be the frontrunner in the polls.
The fragmentation could split the votes, which may benefit other parties, he said.
Lee said that overall, GRS remains the strongest contender heading into the polls, while Warisan is seen as an alternative force.
