In what is largely seen as a war of attrition between the two rival factions vying for control of the party, the final solution is likely to be in the hands of official delegates of Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS).

It was the delegates in the first place, or rather those aligned to their own factions, who elected two heads Joseph Kurup and Dr Jeffrey Kitingan for the Kadazandusun-based party, one of the component parties of the Sabah's ruling coalition.

That development plunged the party into its worst crisis since its formation, and has made it practically a laughing stock.

Jeffrey Kitingan, younger brother of former Sabah chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan whose party Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) has recently been re-admitted into the Barisan Nasional after being in the opposition for more than decade, tried to invite his now arch-rival Kurup, a state minister, for talks as a way to end the internal party crisis. Kurup refused the invitation.

Informed sources told malaysiankin that Jeffrey's next move was to approach the so-called neutral group comprising the party's five state representatives, all formerly elected on PBS ticket before they crossed to PBRS, and asked for their help to convene an extra general meeting.

The five came up with a public statement saying the only way to end the crisis was to call for an emergency general meeting (EGM) and to let the delegates decide on who they want to lead the party.

Refused to acquiesce

But Kurup has so far refused to acquiesce to that demand, with his supporters saying that the claim by the group aligned to Jeffrey Kitingan that they have the support of two-thirds of the delegates from all divisions to call for the EGM was questionable.

According to them, some of the petition forms used were old ones, used prior to the last general meeting, and all Kitingan's supporters did was garner enough of signatures to top up to the two-thirds requirement under the party's constitution in order to call for a EGM.

According to sources, it is not that Kurup is afraid to face the EGM delegates.

"He does not want Jeffrey's control over the delegates," the sources said, adding that Kurup is only waiting for the Registrar of Societies (ROS) to make his decision about calling for an EGM to resolve the issue.

"Kurup would like the ROS to suggest an EGM be held and that the elections are conducted under the supervision of the ROS office," they added.

The expectation is that the ROS' decision is expected to be delivered to the party within March, the sources said.