Parti Bersatu Sabah rebel chief Sindin Ranggangon has quit the party en masse with his entire 3,000 strong division of Kiulu, rather than face the music after being served with a show-cause letter on Aug 14.

PBS, formed in 1984, is a breakaway of the then ruling Parti Berjaya.

joseph pairin kitingan "We have lost confidence in the leadership of Datuk Seri (Joseph) Pairin (Kitingan),” announced Sindin and disclosed that the party’s Kiulu division had also been dissolved at a special meeting in Kampung Pukak on Sunday.

“I am seriously considering joining PKR. In politics, nobody is invincible forever,” he added.

Reacting to the mass departure, Kiulu State Assemblyperson Louis Rampas, said: “The party will emerge stronger after this. We might have to start all over again by filling in new membership forms.”

PBS deputy president Dr Maximus Ongkili said: “Sindin has saved time for the disciplinary committee from holding its next meeting to take action against him.”

“Sindin, however, has no power to dissolve branches or divisions. The party headquarters will appoint an acting division chief soon,” added the minister for science, technology and innovation.

Sindin’s ‘offence’ in the eyes of party elders, was his call earlier this month for party president Joseph Pairin Kitingan to step down and hand over leadership to his deputy Dr Maximus, who is also his nephew.

Maximus was previously involved in a leadership tussle with another Kitingan, his uncle Jeffrey, now PKR chief in Sabah.

Lackluster leadership

Sindin said Pairin’s “lackluster leadership and prolonged stay in office” were the reasons why the party had lost two seats in the March 8 general election.

Pairin, who is also the Huguan Siou (paramount chief) of the KadazanDusuns, has responded to his detractors by vowing to go when the time was right. However, party elders have stood by Pairin, insisting his services were still needed by the party.

The older generation are diehard Pairin supporters who still dream that he will one day find the tataba (the magical wand of power) and rule over a state they consider their ancestral home.

However, the numbers are against the non-Muslim KadazanDusun who along with the related Murut now make up only 26 percent of society in Sabah, a far cry from the 50 percent at the advent of independence in 1963.

Immigrants from nearby lands, the Chinese community and various Muslim communities including KadazanDusun tribes like the Dusun Ranau, Bisaya and Orang Sungei make up the rest.

Storm in a teacup

PBS secretary-general Raden Malleh believes Pairin still enjoys the full support of party members and the grassroots, adding that there is no hurry for a leadership handover. “Dr Maximus and the others can wait for their time,” he said.

The prospect of Maximus taking on his uncle is an unthinkable one and most political analysts and observers are almost sure that it will never happen. Party elections, slated for next year, will be a tame affair as usual.

Local issues also seem to be at the heart of what is being dismissed as a ‘storm in a teacup’ in Kiulu. Sindin himself has questioned the appointment of a non-PBS leader as the People’s Development Leader in the division, “as though not even one of the more than 3,000 PBS members are suitable for the post.”

Many PBS members outside Pairin’s traditional Tambunan stronghold have still not forgiven him for allowing the splintering of the party and the emergence of breakaways since 1994. UPKO (United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Organisation) led by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Bernard Dompok; PBRS (Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah) led by Federal Deputy Minister Joseph Kurup and SAPP (Sabah Progressive Party) led by Yong Teck Lee are all splinter groups from PBS which became component members of the Barisan Nasional.

PBS was eventually allowed to re-join the BN after it’s strength had been considerably whittled down, although former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad had once vowed that “the doors of the ruling coalition were not only permanently closed to the party, the keys have been thrown away.”

Jeffrey meanwhile thinks that Pairin should focus on his ceremonial role as Huguan Siou. His theory is that his elder brother has politicised the paramount chief’s post by engaging himself in politics.“This is divisive,” is Jeffrey’s constant lament.

The younger generation seems to agree, believing the Huguan Siou can help unite the various KadazanDusun communities across religious and political lines.