KOTA KINABALU, Sabah: Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) President, Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, stressed that the party will not be part of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS)-led state government, choosing instead to remain in the opposition.
Jeffrey, who won the Tambunan state seat in the 17th Sabah State Election, said STAR’s stance is consistent and unchanged, which is that Sabah must be governed by a local Sabahan party.
“We will support policies that protect Sabah, and we will oppose any steps that undermine the Malaysia Agreement 1963, the Constitution, or the long struggle for Sabah for the sake of its people,” he said in a statement today.
The state election saw GRS winning 29 of the 73 state seats contested, Warisan (25), Barisan Nasional (six), Independents (five), UPKO (three), STAR (two), while Perikatan Nasional, Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat, and Pakatan Harapan each won one seat.
Early Sunday morning, GRS Chairman, Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, was sworn in as the 17th Chief Minister, while nine other State Assembly members were sworn in as State Cabinet members before Tun Musa at Istana Seri Kinabalu.
The composition of the Sabah Cabinet sworn in on Monday consists of eight members from GRS.
They are Hajiji, Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam (Deputy Chief Minister I, and Works and Utilities Minister), Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun (Deputy Chief Minister II and Finance Minister), Datuk Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif (Local Government and Housing Minister),Datuk James Ratib (Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister), Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan (Youth and Sports Development and Creative Economy Minister), Datuk Rubin Balang (Rural Development Minister), and Datuk Julita Majungki (Women, Health and People’s Wellbeing Minister).
The other Cabinet members are Datuk Ewon Benedick (Deputy Chief Minister III, and Industrial, Entrepreneur and Transport Minister) representing UPKO, Datuk Jafry Ariffin (Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister) from BN, and Datuk Jamawi Jaafar (Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Minister) from PH.
For the latest news on the 17th Sabah State Election, please visit https://prn.bernama.com/sabah/index.php. – BERNAMA
