Will Kitingan ditch Anwar-Azmin team?
By Luke Rintod and David Thien
KOTA KINABALU: Outgoing PKR vice-president Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said that his priority was Sabah and that his group was’ willing to work with whichever party’ that could resolve the state’s innumerous outstanding issues and recognise Sabah and Sarawak’s rights as “equal partners” in the Federation of Malaysia.
“My priority is and always will be Sabah and Sarawak. All I want now is to get what’s due for these states. I want both Sabah and Sarawak to get what was promised to them when they agreed to join with Malaya to form Malaysia,” he said.
Jeffrey has been in the forefront of calls for the federal government to recognise the content of Sabah’s 20-and Sarawak’s 18-points agreements which was agreed upon before the states joined the peninsula to become the federated states of Malaysia.
Speaking to newsmen here yesterday, Jeffrey said he and his group were ‘at loss’ over PKR leader Zaid Ibrahim’s decision to quit the party.
“We supported Zaid because he is a man of principle and he supported the aspirations of Sabah and Sarawak.
“We wanted leaders at the apex of PKR who understand the need and aspirations of Sabah and Sarawak but he (Zaid) has quit now. We are at a loss,” said Jeffrey.
According to him, Zaid has openly supported Sabah and Sarawak’s “rights as equal partners” in Federation of Malaysia.
He added that he was unaware of there were other PKR top central leaders who “really” respected Sabah and Sarawak’s rights.
Will Jeffrey ditch Anwar?
Jeffrey’s ‘revealing’ statement is seen by many as an indication of ‘uncertainty’ over continued ties with PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim, who many blamed for the problems in the party which was further exacerberated by Zaid’s decision to withdraw from the deputy presidential race citing widespread electoral malpractices.
A series of verbal slinging between him and rival candidate Azmin Ali and Anwar, led to Zaid announcing his resignation from the party effective Dec 16.
Zaid’s sudden decision has upset his supporters across the ranks inside and outside the party.
His announcement came in the midst of the Batu Sapi by-election, which also saw Kitingan’s ‘sudden’ declaration that he was taking two months leave from politics.
Jeffrey’s absence during the by-election fuelled rumours that he was unhappy and disappointed at the choice of the PKR candidate Ansari Abdullah for Batu Sapi, and Anwar’s lack of will to deal with the contentious party polls.
A reliable source here said that Anwar was paying a heavy price for backing Azmin.
“Zaid is not a man PKR should lose. When Anwar came to Batu Sapi to campaign for Ansari Abdullah (PKR candidate), he literally ‘forced’ PKR members to vote for Azmin.
“He knows Sabahans don’t like Azmin. They don’t like his arrogance. They don’t see Azmin as a grassroots man.
“Everyone knows that in Sabah and Sarawak, Zaid has lot of support,” said the source.
In the meantime political observers are waiting and betting on Jeffrey”s next move. Many are speculating on when Jeffrey will ditch the Anwar-Azmin led-PKR and what his options are.
Back to drawing-board
Meanwhile Jeffrey, who is still on his two month ‘vacation from politics’, said he is using ‘this time to re-evaluate his options.
“You may ask me this (question) again when I come back from my leave next year. You may say I am on a soul-searching (mission) right now…” he quipped.
