PKR vice-president Jeffrey Kitingan appears to have cornered elder brother Joseph Pairin “into a position from which he will not so easily escape this time”.

He wants direct talks with Pairin - president of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) - on Sabah’s political future, as well as an invitation to be sent from the two of them to other leaders, for an informal pow-wow on the way ahead.

jeffrey kitingan sabah 310508 “We need to set aside party politics and focus on what is happening to our state and country. We need to talk about how we can approach the future of Sabah together. There’s always room for common points of agreement,” said Jeffrey.

He is prepared to initiate a roundtable discussion involving all Sabah leaders, not political parties, when the time comes. In the interim, Jeffrey, a key member of Sabah PKR political bureau, intends to talk to the leaders one by one.

“We must not miss the window of opportunity opened up by the general election last year,” he said, raising a point stressed by Sapp before it pulled out from the BN on Sept 17 last year.

Jeffrey’s stand follows Pairin’s blanket denial on Sunday that he had invited his younger brother back into the PBS fold. He and Jeffrey co-founded the party in 1985.

Vice-president Herbert Timbun Lagadan has called on Jeffrey twice to return to the party. Lagadan even told local media on the second occasion that he had “Pairin’s blessings” to do so and that Jeffrey was needed as part of Pairin’s “exit strategy”.

Pairin has not discounted the possibility of Jeffrey being accepted back into PBS for the third time “if he can pass a sincerity test”. Jeffrey has been twice back with the party and was rejected by the supreme council on his third attempt.

joseph pairin kitingan 010706 young “Jeffrey is ambitious. I told him not to challenge Max for the deputy presidency but he went ahead,” complained Pairin (right) about Jeffrey’s past moves in the party.

‘Max’ refers to PBS deputy president Maximus Ongkili, a nephew of the Kitingans. He has publicly said twice so far that this is his last term.

His departure, along with Pairin’s, is expected to leave a leadership vacuum in PBS. This is said to be behind Pairin’s invitation to his brother to re-join PBS, but Jeffrey said he is not interested in filling any vacancy.

“I have been consistent in my politics so far despite having moved around several political parties since 1985. It’s the political parties that have not been consistent in their political struggle and this includes PBS.”

Pending issues

Jeffrey’s call for talks does not mean that he’s no longer on speaking terms with Pairin. The talks refer to matters that the duo have not broached since 1994 when former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad engineered the downfall of the PBS state government through massive defections.

This was after Umno’s entry into the state and the deregistration of the United Sabah National Organisation headed by the late Mustapha Harun.

mahathir interview 050308 One sore point with Jeffrey is that Mahathir (left) , apparently keeping only Umno in mind, encouraged several rebel leaders in PBS to form their own political parties beginning with Angkatan Keadilan Rakyat, followed by Sabah Peoples Progressive Party, Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah and PBS Parti Democratic Sabah (later United Pasok Momogun KadazanDusunMurut Organisation).

“Umno’s priorities are not our priorities.“Umno’s priorities are to maintain power; to control and to dominate,” said Jeffrey.

It is unlikely that Pairin will immediately respond to Jeffrey’s offer of political talks unless his departure from PBS is imminent. Pairin is said to be not in good health, but has denied speculation that he has either cardiac problems, cancer or both.