Sabah polls: Star to hold talks with Upko for possible cooperation

Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) president Jeffrey Kitingan said his party will meet the Upko tomorrow to discuss possible cooperation ahead of the 17th Sabah election.

He said this is part of ongoing efforts to strengthen understanding among Sabah-based parties.

“Yes, there will be discussions with Upko tomorrow.

“We were actually waiting for them today before announcing our candidates, but since our event was already planned, we had to proceed,” Kitingan told reporters after unveiling Star’s candidates at the party headquarters in Bukit Padang, Kota Kinabalu.

He said he was confident of receiving a positive response from Upko president Ewon Benedick, who recently expressed interest in working with like-minded local parties that share the “Sabah First” vision.

“I’m sure the feedback will be positive,” Kitingan added, suggesting that the cooperation talks had partly contributed to the delay in the announcement of some Star candidates.

Federal govt accused of being inconsistent

Kitingan also commented on the Attorney-General’s Chambers statement regarding Sabah’s 40 percent revenue entitlement, describing it as inconsistent and politically motivated.

He pointed out that at one end, Putrajaya said it would not file an appeal against the revenue entitlement, but on the other, the AGC will appeal against certain remarks made by the judge.

“I think they made that statement just to please people before the election. That’s why I don’t trust it,” he said.

Yesterday, the AGC said it would not appeal the court’s decision on the 40 percent revenue entitlement and would proceed with discussions with the state government.

However, it intends to appeal parts of the judgment that described the federal and state governments as having violated the Federal Constitution in relation to the revenue entitlement.

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