Kota Kinabalu: Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) became the first Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) component to indicate willingness to collaborate with Parti Warisan in line with its motto of working with “all local parties”.
“We will work together with any local party and if we regard Sabah as Rumah Kita, Kita Jaga, we have to be consistent and work together with everybody.
Advertisement“Unity is duty. That is the only way to move forward. Just like Sarawak,” Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said, while on a Chinese New Year walkabout in Damai, Luyang, Sunday, a DAP stronghold.
It sparked speculation about the party’s intentions to contest in constituencies like Luyang. On whether the party now appeared to be sizing up its chances in Chinese dominated areas in Sabah, he said:
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“We do this because we want to get closer to the people so they understand who we are. Of course, if the time comes, they need us, we are ready to represent them.” Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); He said they would continue the walkabouts in various districts, including the east coast towns.
The party is synonymous with the indigenous community and the interior, having won six interior seats in the last State Elections, namely Paginatan, Tambunan, Bingkor, Liawan, Tulid and Sook.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});The Deputy Chief Minister reiterated his stand on preserving Sabah’s political autonomy, criticising the entry of peninsula-based parties into Sabah’s political arena.
“When Malaysia was formed, we merged as equal partners whereby Sabah and Sarawak have special autonomy and rights with clearly demarcated seats.
“If Peninsular Malaysia has 100 seats and we have 10, why come and also take our 10?
“We have had enough. Bringing outside parties here to take our seats is colonial proxy, it means you want to control everything without respecting the merger formula,” he stressed.
Warisan President Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal said recently that it was keen on working with GRS components, particularly Star and Parti Bersatu Sabah.
However, he said the response from these parties was not encouraging.
Jeffrey also spoke about his party’s commitment to increasing women’s representation in the coming election.
On coalition matters, Jeffrey said there are ongoing discussions with PBS and that they hope to finalise arrangements before the upcoming State Election.
