KOTA KINABALU – Sabah STAR is ready to have a face-off with Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) after the latter called on BN not to cooperate with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) in the upcoming general election.
“If PBRS wants to go solo in this general election, then so be it,” said Sabah STAR assistant secretary-general Rizal Johari.
Sabah STAR is a component of GRS, while PBRS is a member of BN.
“Sabah STAR is always prepared to contest because we have always been true to our struggle in fighting for the people and state rights,” he said here today.
An electoral pact between the GRS and BN coalitions has not been formalised yet.
However, PBRS has been calling for BN to go solo in the 15th general election (GE15), which is expected to take place by next month.
PBRS president Tan Sri Joseph Kurup had reasoned that a GRS-BN pact would only give Perikatan Nasional the advantage.
PBRS has been eyeing the Keningau parliamentary seat now occupied by Sabah Star.
This became especially pronounced after Datuk Jake Jikulin Nointin joined the party. Nointin is a former Warisan man and former PBS youth chief.
Nointin had stood against Keningau MP and Sabah STAR president Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan in the 14th general election in 2018.
Kitingan had then won the race with a razor-thin margin of 45 votes over Nointin, who was contesting under the Warisan ticket at the time. Kitingan garnered 13, 286 votes against Nointin’s 13, 241.
Sabah BN chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and Sabah GRS chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Mohd Noor have assured there will be no clashes between the two coalitions in the election.
However, Rizal stressed that this does not mean GRS will blindly bow to anyone.
“People vote for us (Sabah Star) because they know what we stand and fight for,” he said.
“They also know that Kitingan has always been consistent in his political struggle. His opponents can criticise him all they want, but the people know that at the core, he always fights for you, me, and our future generations,” he said.
On this note, Rizal said Sabah STAR wants to contest in five parliamentary seats in the general election.
“I believe it’s a fair request because we are a local Sabah party and we are the voice of the people, especially in the interior areas of Sabah, in Parliament,” he said. – The Vibes, October 18, 2022
