Kitingan feud continues by proxy

Raymond Tombung

Observers are disappointed that a response to Jeffrey’s allegations has not come directly from Pairin

KOTA KINABALU: The feuding Kitingan brothers have apparently decided to use proxies to continue with their political sparring.

Joseph Pairin’s outburst against Jeffrey on Sunday and the younger brother’s retort on Monday were both widely reported by the local printed media on the following days, and readers swamped the newsstands today for the next round.

Many expressed disappointment that instead of a rebuttal from Pairin himself, they got a statement from Herbert Timbun Lagadan, a vice-president of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), which the older Kitingan leads.

As if that was not enough of a letdown, Lagadan tried to shame Jeffrey instead of shedding more light on the 1994 political crisis, which was the main subject of the younger Kitingan’s press conference on Monday. He alleged that Jeffrey once tried to join Umno by stealth, using the name “Gapari” to hide his identity.

“What’s this?” a newsstand customer was heard saying. “Has Pairin conceded defeat?”

Jeffrey’s response to Lagadan came through Daniel John Jambun, his deputy in Sabah STAR. He said Lagadan’s attack was lame, party hopping being almost a tradition in Sabah. He noted that Pairin himself once left Barisan Nasional and then returned to its fold.

“Lagadan still has the burden of answering the question of whether PBS’ current struggle is the best for the people of Sabah, especially the Kadazandusuns and Muruts, now that it is under the control of Umno,” Jambun said. “As I see it, Lagadan’s arguments have become childish, with a lot of irrelevance and trivial accusations.”

Jambun also gave his response to PBS information chief Johnny Mositun’s accusation that Jeffrey was trying to fool the public with unrealistic promises for personal gain. He challenged Mositun to a public debate on what would be best for Sabah’s future.

He said he would debate Mositun “anytime and anywhere” and would be “perfectly willing” to do so in Bahasa Malaysia if the latter was not comfortable with English.

Meanwhile, a member of the PKR divisional committee in Bingkor accused Jeffrey of splitting the opposition. “From the way the STAR is breaking the opposition pact, the vision of PKR taking over Putrajaya will be more difficult to achieve,” said Robert Linggi.

A STAR leader in Keningau said Linggi was upset over the support STAR was receiving and was worried that this might thwart his ambition to stand for election as a PKR candidate.

The exchanges are expected to continue until the general election even as the opposition parties prepare for intense seat-allocation talks.

PKR announced today that Ansari Abdullah would lead the PKR negotiation team. STAR has appointed Jambun as its lead negotiator.