Jeffrey may turn UBF into political force

PBS's denial of talks with United Borneo Front has compelled an exasperated Jeffrey Kitingan to look for other options.

KOTA KINABALU: The United Borneo Front (UBF) may be forced to convert into a political party if the current political parties in Sabah refuse to subscribe to its Borneo Agenda, its leader Jeffrey Kitingan said yesterday.

“The current Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat set-up has focused on the peninsula’s agenda which is why UBF hopes to educate the masses on how we could empower ourselves politically.

“If the current political parties in Sabah refuse to subscribe to the Borneo Agenda, then we have no choice but to gather our supporters eventually into a new political party in Sabah to promote the struggle of our founding fathers,” he said yesterday after PBS officially denied any links to the NGO.

He said that UBF would approach every political party in BN and Pakatan intending to put candidates in Sabah and Sarawak and ask them whether they subscribe to the Borneo Agenda.

“This is so that the people will know what is truly in their hearts when they become the peoples’ representatives.

“We will make it very clear to our supporters and everybody we know here and abroad which parties have subscribed to our struggle and which parties have flatly rejected it,” he said.

He was speaking in response to PBS’s information chief Johnny Mositun’s denial of any talks with UBF.

Jeffrey said that Mositun’s denial was questionable.

“Did Mositun issue the denial unilaterally or did he have the blessing of the PBS supreme council?

“However, we will continue to be open to friendly discussions with anybody in Sabah and Sarawak pertaining to the Borneo Agenda,” he added.

Common agenda

On reports that PBS had invited him rejoin the party along with those who recently resigned from PKR, Jeffrey said that it was up to each individual to join whichever parties they wished.

“I have made it clear that I am focusing my struggle on promoting the Borneo Agenda through UBF and forming a Borneo Alliance of political parties, NGOs and individuals who subscribe to our struggle for political and economic empowerment in Borneo,” he said.

The UBF was co-founded by Jeffrey, lawyer Nilakrisna James and economist Zainal Ajamain.

The trio set it up as a civil rights movement and pressure group aimed at uniting political parties, NGOS and individuals in Sabah and Sarawak into a Borneo alliance and push for equal powers with the peninsula in the federation.

UBF was launched on Dec 16, which was the date of the Boston Tea Party revolt in 1773. The latter was sparked by oppressive cabotage laws imposed by the British against the American colonies that led to the American revolution and eventual American independence.

UBF hopes to force the Malaysian government to review laws, contracts, regulations and policies which negatively impact Sabah and Sarawak. -FMT