PETALING JAYA: Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) founder Joseph Kurup has died today at the age of 79.
The former Sabah deputy chief minister retired from politics in January last year having served as PBRS president since the party’s inception.
His son, Arthur Joseph Kurup succeeded him as party president.
A former federal minister, Kurup, was also a founding member of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) before forming PBRS, a Barisan Nasional component, in 1994.
It is understood that he had been unwell for some time.
According to NST, he died at the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur.
The veteran politician held several ministerial posts throughout his political career which spanned more than four decades.
He was the Sabah deputy chief minister between 1986 and 1990 and again from 1994 to 1999.
His last post was national unity minister between 2013 and 2018. He did not defend his Pensiangan seat in the 2018 general election, opting instead to give way to Arthur, 40.
Arthur is deputy agriculture and food security minister under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration.
