By MUGUNTAN VANAR
KOTA KINABALU: A spate of resignations and continuing bickering among Sabah PKR leaders is becoming an obstacle to Pakatan Rakyat’s dreams of breaking Barisan Nasional’s hold on Sabah and Sarawak.
The resignations of former PKR vice-president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan and senior members were widely seen as a blow to Pakatan’s attempt to gain ground in Barisan’s Sabah and Sarawak strongholds.
Dr Jeffrey and some 27 members of the Kadazandusun and Murut task force quit PKR last week to form the non-political United Borneo Front.
According to Universiti Malaysia Sabah head of international relations programme Prof Zaini Othman, Dr Jeffrey’s resignation and the state’s leadership tussle were raising questions about the PKR and Pakatan’s ability to provide a strong opposition.
“It is quite obvious to voters that PKR is incapable of providing constructive opposition to Barisan,” Prof Zaini said.
PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution had dismissed the resignations as having minimal impact on the party.
But the situation in the state PKR remained volatile with the group aligned to former supreme council member Ansari Abdullah urging party headquarters to replace current state leader Ahmad Thamrin Jaini.
Political observers also saw Dr Jeffrey’s departure as having an impact on Sabah PKR’s electoral chances as it was seen as being controlled by Kuala Lumpur.
To the independent-minded Sabahan, an observer noted, PKR now was seen as a party directly under its Kuala Lumpur headquarters, which was picking and sacking leaders at its whim.
The observer said this group of people who wanted greater political autonomy in the state leadership were now unlikely to see PKR as an alternative.
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