Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) is considering taking legal action against Jeffrey Kitingan, state assemblyman for Bingkor, and five other assemblymen who had hopped from PBS to Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) last Sunday.

PBS deputy president Dr. Yee Moh Chai told malaysiakini today that all party candidates have signed an undertaking that if they were to defect to another party, they must give up their seats.

"The legal commission of PBS is looking into the possibility of taking legal action against them," said Yee, state assemblyman for Api-Api.

Jeffrey led Johnny Goh Chin Lok (Inanam), Louis Rampas (Kiulu), Karim Adam (Kundasang), Edward Linggu (Tamparuli) and Atong Mangabis (Matunggong) into PBRS, giving six seats to BN component, PBRS, where previously it had none.

The defections had made PBRS, a party headed by former Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Kurup the third largest of the nine-member Sabah BN in the state assembly, after Umno and United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Organisation.

In the March state elections last year, PBS obtained 17 seats against BN's 31 seats.

"People have given the mandate to them under PBS banner, there is no argument that it's wrong to join BN after winning the seat," Dr. Yee stated.

He stressed that PBS will take the legal action as soon as possible.

He said the Sabah people are disappointed that the politics had degenerated into such a state where the people are not confident with the system anymore.

"We hope the action will put an end to the party-hopping problem," he added.

Jeffrey was one of the founder leaders of PBRS formed when his elder brother Pairin, then leading the PBS government, was forced to step down in March 1994 after several PBS assemblymen (including Jeffrey) left the party to join BN.