‘I will contest’ Pairin walking a tightrope

Joseph Bingkasan

Joseph Pairin Kitingan, 72, while wanting to scale back on his politics, is not prepared to risk his party, PBS, losing in the 13th general election. 

KOTA KINABALU: In the interior towns in the state, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) and its septuagenarian leader, Joseph Pairin Kitingan, are greeted with either scorn or grudging respect, depending on who you talk to.

Ask Joseph, a youth in Tambunan who declined to give his full name, and he is unequivocal in his answer about the failings of the “huguan siou” or paramount chief of the Kadazandusun community.

“What has he done since becoming deputy chief minister?” he asks as he decries the politics of the ruling Umno-led Barisan Nasional coalition to which Pairin hitched his party some 20 years ago.

His older friend, Sampson, on the other hand, believes the community, though feeling marginalised, has gained a higher profile and some respect under Pairin’s watch.

However, both agree that PBS without Pairin will be dead and any sentiment people may still feel for the party will evaporate if he exits the political stage.

Pairin undoubtedly knows this and has moved to allay fears that he will step aside before the 13th general election, which is due anytime.

After being entrenched at the top of the state’s political ladder and presiding over events and development of the small town of Tambunan and the wider district of Keningau for some 40 years, the man who wears several hats – as parliamentarian, state representative, deputy chief minister, state minister, paramount chief and party leader – announced he wants another five years at the top.

But in assuring his supporters last week of his intention to contest both the Keningau parliamentary and Tambunan state seats in the coming election one more time, Pairin has also indirectly reaffirmed Joseph and Sampson’s contention that his party is nothing without him at the helm.

That is indeed troubling news for party members, many of whom freely admit they do not have a leg to stand on if Pairin does not speak up for them whenever an election comes around.

The truth is that PBS leaders below Pairin lack both the grassroots support and charisma to bring in the votes for either the party or the ruling coalition on their own.

With their 72-year-old leader quashing talk of early retirement, they now have another five years to prepare for his retirement which he said would take place by the 14th general election.

‘I am ready to contest’

The once-revered Sabah leader is the state’s long-serving assemblyman. He has been the Tambunan state assemblyman since 1976 when he first won the seat for Berjaya at age 36 and won the Keningau parliamentary seat 10 years later in 1986. He has retained them ever since.

Amid fears that both his party and the ruling coalition may see support drop substantially in the coming election, the huguan siou remained haughty and patronising at the same time.

“How do they know? You should quote what I said also … that I am ready to contest,” he said, referring to the various online news reports quoting party insiders as saying that he would step aside in the larger Keningau seat, which covers three state constituencies, and only contest the Tambunan state assembly seat in the coming election.

But Pairin did not deny he was worried about a possible negative impact on morale within PBS if he withdrew from the state political scene.

“I will retire, but not for this election. What I have planned and what I’ve discussed with my colleagues, is to contest this coming general election but not in the election after that. I want to retire in the 14th general election. I hope those people concerned will be happy,” he was quoted as saying over the weekend.

When put on the spot by a reporter to confirm if he would be defending his parliamentary and state seats, he replied with a broad smile: “It looks like it!”

His remarks about himself and his future may have attracted publicity to the ruling coalition leaders’ tendency to ignore the more complex issues facing Sabah.

It’s a strategy that might swiftly turn more voters off apart from infuriating Sabahans, who already feel they have been marginalised.

What the Josephs and Sampsons in the interior want from their “huguan siou” is to talk more about basic topics such as state rights, the loosening of economic restrictions, improved governance and education reforms, to name a few.

These are the topics that are crying out for immediate attention, not his plans for his future.