Kota Kinabalu: Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) President Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan urged former Warisan Sabah Vice-President Datuk Peter Anthony to abandon plans to form a new party as Sabah currently has too many.
He said both Anthony and Nuatim should join one of the established political parties, preferably Star.
“I don’t believe it will split the votes because they have already said they will support the GRS-led Sabah government. It will not undermine our unity if they are with us.
“One may argue that there are already too many KDM-based parties operating under the GRS banner, but at the same time, we are talking to each other.
“This is a transition period and I believe that, the next one or two steps, we will all be under one roof,” he said, Thursday. Dr Jeffrey who is also Deputy Chief Minister would be meeting Melalap Assemblyman Peter and Limbahau’s Datuk Juil Nuatim in Sook.
“After we extended the invitation to join Star, I was contacted by a third party and I expect to meet them both,” he said.
As for Star’s preparation for the 15th General Election (GE15), Dr Jeffrey said while no one knows when it would take place, GRS has already activated its election machineries.
“We don’t know what the scenario in Sabah will be since, as we have seen in the past, there are many seats where allies clashed, such as in Malacca and Sarawak.
“I hope this time around, we will have a clear strategy to ensure a collective victory because we all want political stability,” he said. Dr Jeffrey did not reveal how many seats Star is seeking to contest but that it would fight for as many seats as possible.
Jeffrey said the recent landslide victory of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) in the state polls on Dec 18 had proven that Borneons are beginning to push back peninsula-based parties by overwhelmingly voting for local parties.
“The writing is already on the wall for Malayan-based parties. Now is the moment for Sabahans to band together and consolidate our political influence on the national stage,” he said.
Earlier, he attended the Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry Appreciation Ceremony 2020 and 2021 at the Shangri-la Tanjung Aru Resort. During the event, a total of 48 ministry staff were recognised for their outstanding performance and exceeding their Key Performance Indexes (KPIs).
Meanwhile, Sabah Star Information Chief Jalumin Bayogoh said some YBs have stated they wanted to join Star for the sake of Sabah unity and seeing what happened in the Sarawak elections last week where peninsula parties PKR and DAP were sent packing.
“We appreciate and welcome the wishes of these YBs and hope they take seriously the decision to join the local party,” said Jalumin who is also the Deputy Chairman of the Rural Development Corporation (KPD).
Dr Jeffrey, who is also Keningau Member of Parliament and Tambunan Assemblyman, also extended a similar invitation to leaders who left Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS).
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