“He is expected to make the announcement in the next few days. Once he steps down, based on our party constitution, the deputy president would take over the leadership,” said a party leader who did not want to be named when contacted by Bernama yesterday.
Talks are rife that the former Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister is about to step down with Dompok already delegating duties to the party’s second-in-command, Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau.
However, Tangau when contacted by Bernama neither confirmed nor denied talks that Dompok would be stepping down except asking the media to wait for few days.
“I have nothing to comment at the moment. Just wait,” he said.
The party insider said Dompok has told party members about his retirement plans after failing to retain the Penampang parliamentary seat in the 13th General Election in 2013. The Penampang seat was won by Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s Darrel Iking.
The move is to pave way for the younger leaders to take over the party leadership and allow them enough time to prepare for the next general election.
Star Online reported that Dompok is set to announce he is stepping down as UPKO president on Wednesday.
The 64-year-old veteran politician is scheduled to make a press conference on his resignation that could take effect immediately or within a month of the announcement to facilitate a smooth transition.
Dompok’s political career started in 1985 with the then fledgling Parti Bersatu Sabah led by Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan that toppled the Berjaya government of Datuk Harris Salleh.
However, Dompok left PBS with many senior leaders to form Party Democratic Sabah (later renamed Upko) as the three-week-old PBS government collapsed in a spate of defections after the 1994 state elections.
In the 1999 state elections, Dompok, who was then chief minister, was defeated in his Moyog state seat though Barisan Nasional won the state elections.
He later moved base from his Penampang base to Ranau parliamentary seat where he successfully won Ranau in the 1999 general election after which he was made a federal minister.
He returned to Penampang in the 2008 general election but lost the seat in 2013.
Dompok is widely credited for his outspoken views of state rights and religious issues and was instrumental in getting the Kadazandusun language introduced as a subject in schools in Sabah.
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