February 24, 2025
KUALA LUMPUR – “ITU Jeffrey Kitingan (that’s Jeffrey Kitingan).”
I overheard someone saying this the other day when I was in a lounge at KL International Airport.
I turned and saw a man wearing a sports cap who looked like a top Sabah Umno leader talking to a politician who resembled an Umno deputy minister.
The chat sounded politically juicy, and I was so tempted to sit next to them to find out what they were saying about the politics of Sabah, my home state. But both of them knew me, and if they found me sitting nearby, it would have been awkward. So I went to get a slice of watermelon and then sat further away from them. It was too far for them to see me, and also for me to hear them.
Bummer.
The mention of Kitingan piqued my interest as he’s one of the major players in politics in Sabah. Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan is Sabah Deputy Chief Minister I, Sabah Star president, Keningau MP, and Tambanun assemblyman.
I was curious whether the two Umno politicians were discussing why the supposedly big Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) meeting was postponed or how Kitingan fit into the scheme of things in messy, fluid, fragmented Sabah politics.
In Sabah, it is not what you read (for example, “Sabah Umno: No pact with Warisan, no discussions held”) in
the media that is crucial information but what happens outside the margins of news reports.
What is said in the media is just the public stand of certain politicians.
Take for example that headline I shared. Umno Sabah’s top leader stands by that statement – it is the truth for him as he and his faction will not work with Warisan. But if it was another Sabah Umno leader, the truth is the reverse. The other Umno leader has held secret meetings with Warisan’s top leadership.
This is not uncommon in Sabah in the lead-up to state elections, which must be called by October at the latest.
There are no permanent political friends or enemies in this state’s politics. It is like these parties or politicians have promiscuous ideologies. They have secret meetings with friends and enemies and anyone in between.
It all boils down to one of the big ticket items in the postponed GRS meeting, which was supposed to be held today. The meeting was supposed to discuss whether the coalition of eight Sabah-based parties should contest all 73 seats in Sabah.
There are two schools of thought in the GRS coalition, which includes Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (PGRS) led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, PBS, Sabah Star, SAPP, Usno, LDP, PCS, and PHRS.
On record, Sabah Star, Usno and SAPP want to contest all the seats. The other component parties, especially PGRS, want to double-team with national coalitions like Pakatan Harapan.
Whether PGRS prefers to work with Umno, which leads Barisan Nasional, depends on which politician leads it. If it is under the anti-Bung Moktar faction, they can negotiate seat allocations. But if it is under the Sabah Umno chief, Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, then it is a no go.
In the 2020 Sabah elections, Hajiji (who was then with Bersatu – later, most of its Sabah leaders and elected representatives formed PGRS) and Bung Moktar were allies in bringing down Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal as Sabah Chief Minister.
They succeeded, and after a tussle, Hajiji, instead of Bung Moktar, was appointed Chief Minister. In January 2023, Bung Moktar decided that Umno was not getting a good deal under the Hajiji-led government, and he and Shafie teamed up to bring him down.
Their attempt – called the Kinabalu move – failed. From Sabah Deputy Minister I Bung Moktar ended up in the Opposition, with some of his Umno assemblymen supporting Hajiji.
That night at KLIA, as I headed to the departure hall for my Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu flight, I met a Sabah MP heading home after his weekday stint in Parliament. Our flight was delayed so we got to chat about politics.
He agreed that Sabah politics is fragmented, and you will only know who is a friend or foe when the state assembly is dissolved. I pointed out that even Pakatan was fighting in Sabah over who should be the state coalition chief. It elected Upko president Datuk Ewon Benedick, but PKR is disputing that. There is talk that DAP and Upko might not use the Pakatan flag in the state elections.
We also agreed that since Sabah politics is so fragmented that a party that wins a few seats – even just two or three – can decide who will be the chief minister.
Some would say that Sabah’s messy, fluid, fragmented politics shows democracy is alive and kicking in my state. For me, though, it is a weakness. We have been fighting among ourselves and have allowed outsiders to dictate to us.
It is time for Sabah political leaders to discard their ketua kampung (village head) mentality of wanting to be chief minister and rally behind one Sabahan to lead them.
But who?
That is why I was curious when I heard “Itu Jeffrey Kitingan”. I wonder whether the two Umno leaders were discussing who they want as Sabah chief minister.
The Umno man wearing the cap probably thinks he qualifies.