Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders in Sabah are no longer in touch with reality, said Dr Jeffrey Kitingan who joined opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) over the weekend.

He was responding to Sabah BN secretary Karim Bujang's insinuation that Kitingan - the brother of Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin - had cooked up a story about having a large following behind him.

"It shows that they (BN leaders) are out of touch with the reality on the ground. They cannot bring themselves to believe that so many people are supporting PKR," he said today.

He was referring to the alleged 17,870 followers applied to join the party in the presence of PKR adviser and former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim in Tambunan.

Kitingan, who has changed parties four times over the past years, also described Sabah BN leaders as 'shallow'.

"They talk about development, see only the money in the Ninth Malaysia Plan and what it gives them. That is politics to them," he said, adding that if Sabah leaders stood by and watched their rights taken away from them, then independence for Sabah would be meaningless.

"Sabah's rights are given to outside powers such as illegal immigrants. We're supposed to be independent. Instead we are being colonised," he said.

There some 1.6 million illegal immigrants in the state, many of them allegedly issued with fake Malaysian identity cards.

Responding to Karim's challenge to show proof that more than 17,000 supporters had joined PKR with him, he said:

"The membership application forms (handed to Anwar) are there. There's no need to provide the evidence. They (BN leaders) simply don't believe it. They are out of touch."

PBS feeling the heat

According to him, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) - led by his elder brother Pairin ( left ) - is feeling the heat in the interiors of Sabah due to PKR's presence.

He claimed that on the day of the PKR rally in Tambunan attended by some 6,000 people, PBS directed every village in the district to hold a gotong-royong in an attempt to keep people away from the opposition party's function.

But what PBS leaders had hoped for did not materialise, he added.

Kitingan said there is a wind of change blowing through the interiors, similar to what was felt in 1985 when PBS took over the state after toppling Parti Berjaya led by the then chief minister Harris Salleh.

Pairin then became chief minister and the party later joined BN.

Kitingan, who revealed his intention to contest in the next general election, expects the polls to be held next year.

As for his next move, he said it will be to concentrate on the membership drive and work with Sabah PKR leaders to map the party's strategy for the elections.

Meanwhile, PKR state assemblyperson for Padungan Dominique Ng, who also attended the rally in Tambunan, told malaysiakini that it would be foolish for anyone to underestimate the mood of Sabahans and capacity for change.

"Only a fool-hardy politician on the government side will disbelieve what is really going on. Four previous state governments found out too late," he said.