Concede to Harapan and I will leave - Kitingan's ultimatum to GRS

Summary

• Sabah DCM I Jeffrey Kitingan has threatened to pull his party, Star, out of GRS if the latter politically concedes to Pakatan Harapan in the upcoming state election.

• This comes as the GRS leadership prepares to meet tonight, where it is expected to endorse a state election seat-sharing plan with Harapan.

• Kitingan argues that allowing Harapan to contest in more than 20 seats will significantly compromise the political power of local parties.

Jeffrey Kitingan has delivered an ultimatum to Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), warning he will exit the ruling coalition if it continues granting political concessions to Pakatan Harapan in the upcoming state election.

The Sabah deputy chief minister I said GRS was now being perceived as bowing to national parties, a move he argued ran counter to the wishes of Sabah voters who wanted a local-led political force.

“If GRS goes solo, I go along. If they don’t, then I can’t go along, because that is going against the sentiment of the majority of the people. They are the ones deciding, voting. How can I go against the people?” he said in an interview.

The ultimatum from the Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) chief comes as the GRS presidential council prepares to meet tonight to endorse what appears to be a seat-sharing deal with Harapan.

This development also confirms months of speculation that Kitingan was prepared to pull his party out of the coalition.

Warning over Harapan demands

Kitingan described Harapan’s push for more seats as a flashpoint, linking it directly to his wider rejection of federal dominance.

READ MORE: Kitingan's 'Justice for Sabah' pits him against federal power, GRS

“They are asking for 23 from the seven (seats they currently have). 

“When I asked him (GRS chairperson Hajiji Noor) last week, he said like 20, 21, like that. The most I could have agreed to is if they maintain, maintain, they have seven seats,” he said.

A jump to more than 20 would hand Harapan nearly a third of the constituencies held by GRS, a dramatic expansion Kitingan sees as undermining local parties.

“They take your money, they take your oil away. Now they want to take your seats, your political power. If they rule here, that means they are colonising us, basically. So, to me, I don’t agree with that. And the people don’t agree with that anymore,” he said.

Federal-local balancing act

GRS’ ties with Harapan stem from the federal coalition government forged after the 2022 general election, in which Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim secured support from Borneo blocs to stabilise his administration.

For Hajiji, maintaining that alliance ensures both federal funding and political survival.

But Kitingan, who is Keningau MP, argues this comes at the expense of Sabah’s autonomy.

Defiant stance

Kitingan suggested the deal with Harapan may already have been settled, but insisted he would not follow.

“The way I look at it, when I met the CM a few days ago, they already decided. So if they have decided, the presidential meeting will be just an endorsement now.

“Even if my YBs abandon me, I will go myself. They can put me in jail, they can hang me, but they cannot hang my spirit; they cannot stop. They cannot break your spirit. Even if I have to go alone, I’ll go alone,” he said.

He added that the endorsement was expected to come tonight when the GRS presidential council meets at Sri Gaya, the Sabah chief minister’s official residence.

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