Sabah strongman Jeffrey Kitingan made it clear in a terse statement today that he's still with PKR and has confidence that "the party headquarters will take the right decisions on Sabah and Sarawak in due course."

"There is a solution to this (PKR) problem in Sabah and Sarawak. We expect an announcement to be made soon," he said in a release to the local media.

NONE"As far as we are concerned, we are still waiting for a solution to the party’s problems in Sabah and Sarawak."

He was commenting on an application filed with the Registrar of Societies in Kota Kinabalu last Thursday to register Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS).

The application, according to former PKR secretary Kanul Gindol, was filed by Daniel John Jambun, a former PKR deputy state chief.

Jeffrey pointed out that he was still on sabbatical (leave) from the party until mid-January and was not aware that the PCS application has been filed.

He acknowledged that it could have been done by "some of my people who could not wait". Daniel is a close confidante of Jeffrey while Kanul was once his political secretary who, sources said, "has fallen out with his former boss". Kanul denies the claim.

Jeffrey did not dwell in his statement on the internal problems that PKR faces as a party in Sabah and Sarawak. However, he has made them clear in his Sabah PKR proposals for change and reform which was handed recently to a peace team from Kuala Lumpur.

The two-man peace team, headed by PKR director of strategies Tian Chua also included Sarawak PKR advisor Michael Bong. The thrust of the proposals is that PKR Sabah and Sarawak must be autonomous from the party headquarters and all party posts must be filled via election.

Before his statement was released, Jeffrey told Malaysiakini "this (PCS) just spoils everything (for PKR)". He appeared to be very unhappy that his name had been linked with PCS. He did not say whether the link was premature.

Both Jeffrey and Kota Kinabalu division chief Christina Liew, it was confirmed, received an email from Tian Chua last week on the Sabah PKR's proposals from the PKR national political bureau along with Jeffrey who has also resigned as vice-president. Jeffrey remains Keningau division chief. He has also since initiated the CIG, Common Interest Group, an apolitical ad hoc movement that cuts across party lines to work for Sabah rights.

Staunch Jeffrey supporter Liew confirmed that she was not going anywhere "for the moment". She appeared to be in the dark as well about PCS. "Parti Cinta Sabah? Is it an April Fool's Day joke?" she asked before brushing aside further discussions on the issue. "Good luck to them."

'All, including Anwar, are evil'

Daniel, when contacted at a fishing spot in Inanam, said he was much stressed right now and does not want to get into polemics over the PCS. "I will issue a statement in due course," he said. "It's still too early to say anything."

Daniel, along with Liew, were unceremoniously removed as state deputy chiefs when Gombak MP Azmin Ali took over from party advisor Anwar Ibrahim earlier this year as Sabah state chief.

Kanul was unapologetic about PCS when contacted but clarified that he had merely accompanied Daniel "as a friend" to the ROS.

He didn't want to dwell on the fact that his name was also listed as among the seven in the pro-tem line-up along with that of Daniel and Moses Iking, a senior PKR activist from Tambunan and a Jeffrey confidante.

Kanul had also claimed last Friday that Jeffrey was in Kuala Lumpur to meet with Home Minister Hishammudin Hussein Onn "about PCS, what else?"

"Jeffrey should lead his own party instead of parking himself here and there to push his ideas," said Kanul on why PCS offers a way out for Jeffrey. "He himself knows that almost all his supporters are in favour of a new party headed by him. He has yet to do this. What's wrong with Jeffrey finally heading his own party?"

NONEKanul thinks that Jeffrey would have full control in a party headed by him and can be held responsible for its success or failure. He pointed out that Jeffrey was "a very capable leader and should not be in the shadow of anybody, least of all Anwar of all people."

Kanul denied that he was "sore with Anwar because he was sacked by PKR before the last general election."

"I quit PKR just before the general election on national TV. I was not sacked as Anwar and others with him in Sabah like to claim," clarified Kanul in denying that vengeance had anything to do with it. "I lost confidence in the PKR headquarters. We had no problems in the party until Anwar was released from jail."

The bottom line, according to Kanul, is that he had yet to see a leader from Peninsular Malaysia who was sincere towards Sabah and Sarawak.

"All of them are evil and just want to lord it over us," claimed Kanul in stressing that Anwar was no exception.

"This is something that we cannot continue to accept. Jeffrey does not accept either. So, why’s he’s still sticking with PKR?"

Kanul was quick to stress that he was not personally in favour of PCS and preferred Jeffrey to join hands with Yong Teck Lee of Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp).

"I have gone back and forth between Yong and Jeffrey many times on this," reiterated Kanul. "Both are in favour of working together because they stand for the same thing which is basically Sabah rights."

However, Kanul is increasingly pessimistic that Jeffrey will ever join Sapp. He denies that he’s being made use of by Yong to persuade Jeffrey to join Sapp and bring in the KadazanDusunMuruts along with him. Sapp, it is said, has lukewarm support among the KDMs.

It has so far been confined to the Chinese seats while trying to make in-roads in Muslim areas with the help of ex-Usno (United Sabah National Organisation) leaders. Usno made way for Umno and was deregistered when some leaders protested.

'He would not go against his brother'

Some senior Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) leaders, when contacted, expressed confidence that Jeffrey would not join Sapp "since he would not go against his brother."

joseph pairin kitingan 010706Brother is a reference to the other Kitingan in politics and PBS president Joseph Pairin Kitingan. Jeffrey is a co-founder of PBS – formed in 1985 – but he only joined the party in 1994 just before the state election. He has a standing inviting from Pairin and other senior PBS leaders to re-join PBS.

There's some suspicion that "Jeffrey's politics is solely aimed at protecting PBS" but he has several times dismissed this as "sheer nonsense since PBS is not in a position now to fight for Sabah rights."

The "Jeffrey's politics is to protect PBS" line is being mainly promoted by former Libaran PKR division chief Hassanar Ebrahim who nevertheless acknowledges the former’s role in pushing for Sabah rights. Hassanar recently called for Jeffrey to be sacked by PKR for his "burnt my bridges" statement.

Hassanar was formerly held under the ISA for admitting that he personally placed 15,000 illegal immigrants on the electoral rolls. He further claimed that 135,000 illegal immigrants were placed on the electoral rolls in Sabah between 1970 and 1985 and has several times challenged the authorities to take him to court.

It was reliably learnt that the main architect behind PCS is a senior NGO leader who previously failed to persuade Jeffrey to launch his own political party despite several sessions with him.

However, the senior NGO leader has kept his name out of the PCS pro-tem line-up. It is known that he may not want to jeopardise his apolitical NGO image and activities by being directly involved in any political party.