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SABAH SURVEYS | Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) finally came of age during the 2020 Sabah elections.
The party was initially dismissed as an outlier during the 2018 elections, but later won two state seats (Bingkor and Tambunan) and one parliamentary seat (Keningau).
Directed by the eccentric Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan (over), 72, Star obtained his best electoral result during this year’s elections.
They won six of the party’s eight candidates, a 75 percent win rate, which is the best of all the parties in the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition.
In addition to retaining Bingkor and Tambunan, Star also won the nearby seats of Paginatan and Liawan.
More importantly, the party expanded its influence outside of its Keningau stronghold by winning Tulid and Sook’s seat in Pensiangan.
Pensiangan is also a parliamentary constituency that until now was considered the stronghold of the Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS), a component party of the BN.
PBRS had won Sook’s job in 2018, but its incumbent Ellron Angin defected to Star in 2018.
Along with uneasy allies Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Star has now established himself as a legitimate player in the Kadazan Dusun Murut areas in the interior of Sabah.
Star’s performance will undoubtedly be a major credibility boost for Kitingan in the Perikatan Nasional coalition, where he is already vice president.
His party would now be in a position to demand high-level cabinet posts in Sabah and would have even more influence in Putrajaya.
Currently, Kitingan is vice minister of tourism, arts and culture.
Follow Malaysiakini’s coverage of Sabah’s state elections here.
