STAR PAVED THE WAY FOR PAKATAN’S SUCCESSES

By : MATTHIAS HERMES

KOTA KINABALU: The opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition owes their success in the last general election in Sabah partly to the efforts of STAR Sabah in highlighting issues affecting the State.

Its Chairman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said his party was instrumental in highlighting the history, rights and treatment of Sabah by the federal government.

He cited for example, the Party and its propaganda unit, United Borneo Front (UBF) have been successful in educating and enlightening the electorate of Sabah rights and autonomy, so much so that it had compelled leaders of Sabah BN components to start demanding for the return of Sabah’s rights and autonomy.

Speaking to members of its Central Committee and heads of divisions at a hotel here today, Dr Jeffrey (photo) also promised to revamp and to strengthen STAR Sabah to better prepare for GE14.

In the said meeting aimed chiefly to carry out a post mortem on the outcome of GE13 and to come up with recommendations, he also urged its division heads not to despair with the outcome of the general election.

“Despite your hard work and enthusiasm we failed to deliver in this election because our expectations were too high within such a short period of just 15 months but considering the obstacles and huge odds, we can stand proud of our efforts” he told the meeting.

“Don’t forget that we have just planted the seeds of our struggle in a hostile and competitive environment where other political trees have already grown and taken roots.

“We need to be patient and committed to nurture these seeds so that one day our political struggle will outgrow the others and bear fruits for our people.

“Remember STAR still did not lose…we just did not win enough. But STAR now has a seat in the Assembly. Let this be our first step towards more future victories,” he said.

While acknowledging the disappointment of most of its candidates and members with the results of GE13, he urged them to remains resilient and to continue with their struggle for Sabah rights and autonomy.

Besides this, he also told them to learn from the post mortem of the election and to improve their campaign in future.

After dissolving the current AMT, Dr Jeffrey was given the full mandate to reorganize and re-appoint leaders to the Party pending party elections.