KOTA KINABALU – Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili has set a timeframe to identify his successor as the next president of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS).
The new party president, he said, would be evident during the ongoing party election.
However, Ongkili stressed that a leadership transition would only take place before or during the next PBS congress in three years’ time.
“At least now they (PBS members) know it (change of party president). In the meantime, we have begun identifying potential candidates and some possibilities will be seen during this party election on Thursday.
“They still need to prove themselves (worthy of becoming PBS president). So it will be during the next PBS congress within the next three years, or earlier,” he told reporters here today.
The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak affairs) said this during the PBS Youth Congress here today.
PBS is currently holding the party congress with the party election set on Thursday.
His position as president remains uncontested.
The 68-year-old PBS stalwart succeeded Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan as PBS president on January 6, 2017 with the Kota Marudu MP leading the party in the 14th general election and Sabah election respectively.
On another note, Ongkili described the London fact-finding mission on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) as fruitful, saying they are now analysing the documents for the benefit of the Sabah government in its effort to reclaim state rights as stated under the agreement.
“It has been a fruitful trip and we also had a discussion there and met some leaders from Sarawak too.
“For the moment, our focus is on the financial rights and boundaries, such as the continental shelf.
“Still, at the end of the day, all of these will depend on whether the Sabah government wants to take it up further to the federal government, as well as how far the state wants to push for state rights,” he said.
On June 14, Ongkili announced that he would lead a team of officials from the state and Putrajaya on a fact-finding mission to the London National Archives in the United Kingdom, where he plans to retrieve all MA63-related documents. – The Vibes, June 28, 2022
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