KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Sabah’s (PBS) Tambunan division remains intact amid news reports that the division had given its full support for Sabah STAR president Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan to defend the Tambunan seat.
Tambunan PBS chief Datuk Daniel Kinsik denied a news report quoting the division’s vice-chairman David Benedict that Tambunan PBS supported Kitingan for the seat.
“The report contains numerous inaccuracies and misleading elements, and has distorted the true stance of Tambunan PBS in the current political context of the Tambunan area,” he said in a statement Wednesday (Nov 5).
He said the statement was not officially issued by the division and any official statement will come from either the division’s chairman, secretary or information chief with the consent of the division chief.
Kinsik said that the division consistently upholds the principles of honesty, organisational discipline, and the preservation of the party’s reputation and integrity.
“Therefore, any statement not verified through official channels should not be considered representative of the party’s position,” he said, advising the media and public not to believe any unverified information.
Kinsik’s statement comes following the Benedict claim that the division had made the decision to support Kitingan based on his decision to go solo to defend state rights.
Benedict had said that the decision was based on internal party discussions as they wanted to see cooperation at the local level in Tambunan.
Kitingan pulled out of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) on Oct 1 after fallout over the local coalition’s decision to forge a pact with national coalition Pakatan Harapan.
Kitingan won the seat after he defeated his elder brother, then PBS president Tan Sri Joseph Pairin, in the 2018 general election.
Pairin, who remains with PBS, has been promoting a merger of Sabah STAR and PBS when both parties were in GRS.
GRS is expected to field Gagasan Rakyat Tambunan division chief Datuk Victor Paut to challenge Jeffrey for the seat held by the two brothers since 1976.
