Kota Kinabalu: Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (StarSabah) has not held any official talks with Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) or Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) on political cooperation, said its president Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey G Kitingan.
He said the party’s priority for now was to strengthen itself before considering any coalition.
“At this point, our priority is to strengthen StarSabah. We do not want to enter any coalition as a liability or find ourselves dependent on the strength of other parties. “We must build our own strength first. Otherwise, StarSabah risks having only a weak voice in any coalition or political alliance.
“For now, therefore, our focus is clear: strengthen StarSabah, consolidate our position and strengthen Sabah’s voice,” he said at the party’s 10th anniversary celebration, here, recently.
Jeffrey said StarSabah supported closer cooperation between Sabah and Sarawak through the proposed Borneo Bloc to strengthen the two states’ collective voice on shared concerns.
The gathering also marked Sabah’s history and its role in the formation of Malaysia.
StarSabah reaffirmed its commitment to pursuing Sabah’s rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and the 20 Points, including financial entitlements, state autonomy and Sabah’s constitutional position within the Federation.
Jeffrey has championed these issues for more than three decades. He was detained under the Internal Security Act from May 1991 to December 1994 and has maintained that his struggle is centred on Sabah’s rights under MA63 rather than taking Sabah out of Malaysia.
He said public awareness of MA63 and the 20 Points was limited when he first raised the issues, but they, including the 40 per cent revenue entitlement, are now among the most prominent issues in Sabah politics.
Jeffrey has repeatedly raised the 40 per cent entitlement issue in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly and Parliament, most recently during a debate in February 2026, linking it to Sabah’s development needs, including poverty reduction, water supply, electricity and road infrastructure.
StarSabah has proposed a clearer formula and the use of digital systems to improve transparency in calculating the entitlement.
Jeffrey also supports a proposal for Sabah and Sarawak to jointly hold 35 per cent of parliamentary seats as a constitutional safeguard, which would require amendments to the Federal Constitution.
The party has linked the struggle for Sabah’s rights to strengthening state institutions in agriculture and food security, including proposed bodies to oversee the paddy and rice sector, palm oil industry and agricultural marketing.
StarSabah has also identified carbon trading as a potential opportunity given Sabah’s forest reserves, although its implementation would depend on an appropriate legal framework and market conditions.
Jeffrey said Sabah attained independence on Aug 31, 1963, ahead of the formation of Malaysia on Sept 16, 1963, a date the party marks as Sabah Day.
StarSabah said the struggle over MA63 remained unfinished and would continue through political channels, parliamentary debates and negotiations with the Federal Government.
