Leonard Linggi Jugah has stepped down from the secretary-general post of both the Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu Sarawak (PBB) and the states ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

The resignation was effective from April 22.

In a one-paragraph press statement today, Linggi, a lawyer by training and an Iban multi-millionaire said: After serving 26 years as secretary-general of PBB and 15 years for the Sarawak BN, I have submitted my letter of resignation effective from April 22, 2002 to the president of PBB and chairman of the state BN.

He added that his resignation was in compliance with the promise he made to the delegates during the last PBB delegates conference in Kuching.

Linggi, 59, who has business interests in property, timber, banking, shipping and insurance, however gave no reasons for his resignation.

He will give a press conference tomorrow where he is expected to explain his reasons for stepping down as secretary-general of both PBB and the state BN.

Significant player

The veteran politician was once at time a state assemblyman and a member of parliament and also served a short stint as a state minister when Abdul Rahman Yakub, the estranged uncle of the present chief minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud, was at the helm of the state government in the early 1970s.

Linggi, who is son of the late Tun Temenggong Jugah, the paramount chief of the Iban, graduated with a law degree from Hull University in the United Kingdom, and served a short stint as a deputy public prosecutor before going into private practice.

He played a significant role in the merger of Parti Pesaka Anak Sarawak, led by his father, and Parti Bumiputra, led then by Abdul Rahman Yakub, to form Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) in 1973.

When Tun Jugah quit politics in mid-1970s, Linggi was appointed secretary-general of PBB, taking over from Abdul Rahman Yakub, then the chief minister, who became the party president in 1975.

He held the post without a break till his resignation on April 22 this year.