Kitingan's 'Star leaving GRS' video taken out of context, left out key remarks

Summary

• Star deputy information chief Ardino Diris says a video suggesting that party president Jeffrey Kitingan intends to leave GRS was taken out of context.

• He says the video omitted key statements made by Kitingan on a proposal for new seat allocation for the upcoming Sabah polls.

Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) deputy information chief Ardino Diris dismissed a video suggesting that party president Jeffrey Kitingan intended to leave Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).

He mentioned that the video was taken out of context - with parts of Kitingan’s conversation removed.

“It left out the parts where Kitingan was talking about seat allocations,” he told Malaysiakini.

Ardino also downplayed the likelihood of Star leaving the coalition.

“I don’t think that will happen. I believe Kitingan, Deputy Chief Minister Joachim Gunsalam (Parti Bersatu Sabah acting president), and Chief Minister Hajiji Noor have already discussed this matter in detail,” he added.

Yesterday, a brief video surfaced showing Kitingan stating that his party intends to leave the ruling Sabah coalition.

The 13-second clip was published by news portal MalaysiaNow on TikTok.

In the video, the Sabah deputy chief minister is heard saying: “Ya, kita akan keluar dari GRS. Tapi masih bersama dalam kerajaan (We will leave GRS. But we will remain in the government).”

However, MalaysiaNow reported an unnamed officer of Kitingan claiming that the “statement was quoted out of context and concerns a different matter”.

The circulation of the video comes amid growing internal pressure within GRS after several of its leaders - including Kitingan, Usno president Pandikar Amin Mulia, and Sabah Progressive Party president Yong Teck Lee - urged the coalition to contest solo in the upcoming state election.

This stands in contrast to Hajiji’s intention to maintain cooperation with Pakatan Harapan and BN.

Internal discussion

According to Ardino, Kitingan’s remarks referred to internal discussions over seat sharing among GRS leaders ahead of the next state election.

“He was referring to a scenario where Star might only be given the same eight seats. In that case, he said he didn’t want it,” said Ardino, who claimed to have seen the full video.

Star holds six seats in the Sabah assembly. It is one of the main components of GRS, alongside Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), and Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (PGRS). PBS holds seven seats.

Ardino said Kitingan had proposed a new seat allocation formula to GRS leadership - referred to internally as the “Jeffrey formula” - under which Star would contest 12 seats, double its current number, while PBS would contest 14 - bringing the total to 26 seats.

The proposal is part of wider discussions between Star and PBS, which have been in talks for a potential merger, tentatively called PBStar.

Ardino said Sabah Star aspires to follow Sarawak’s political model under Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), which remains independent from national coalitions and negotiates support at the federal level based on state interests.

When contacted, Kitingan also rubbished the video.

“If I had the intention (to leave GRS), wouldn’t I be capitalising on the media?” he told Malaysiakini briefly, indicating the video was taken by a party member during Star’s ninth anniversary meeting on Tuesday.

He added that the individual behind the recording had first asked what he would do if GRS was forced to partner with BN and Pakatan Harapan in the upcoming state election.

Graft allegations

Kitingan is among several Sabah politicians accused of involvement in a mining licence corruption scandal.

Last Saturday, Malaysiakini published six screenshots which, according to a source, were taken from video recordings allegedly implicating top leaders from Star and PBS.

Malaysiakini was shown excerpts of the recordings but was not granted permission to reproduce them.

The source claimed that Kitingan received RM1.78 million in bribes linked to the scandal.

Kitingan has since denied the allegation but confirmed he had met with businessperson Albert Tei around the time the allegedly incriminating video was taken. He also pointed to a “hidden hand” attempting to destabilise the state government.

Ardino dismissed the corruption allegations levelled at Kitingan, saying it was part of a coordinated attempt to damage the latter’s reputation.

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