Will SAPP-STAR finally deal?

Sabah State Reform Party (STAR) wants a public
commitment from Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP)
and is no longer prepared to be left hanging.

KOTA KINABALU: Will today be the day that local Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) decides who it will bed with and openly declare so?

The party’s supreme council is scheduled to meet today and high on the agenda is its relationship with Sabah State Reform Party (STAR). Up until now, their ties have been “hanging”, with SAPP being seen as “non-committal”.

Currently, SAPP has a foot in Pakatan Rakyat and another in United Borneo Alliance (UBA), an umbrella body initiated by Jefftrey Kitingan as the political front for parties that subscribe to his United Borneo Front’s (UBF) Borneo Agenda.

Jeffrey, who is Sabah STAR chief, has kept the doors open to SAPP and its president Yong Teck Lee despite advice to the contrary from within and outside his party and circle.

Yong, who was once a chief minister under the old rotation system, seems to be leaning towards Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and the Pakatan coalition.

Past reports suggest that SAPP was in seats negotiation with Pakatan. There were also reports that Pakatan partner DAP had agreed not to contest in some seats, giving way to SAPP.

But a longstanding distrust between SAPP and DAP has only left behind scepticism.

As SAPP continued to weigh its options, STAR has gone on to work the ground and is confident of taking 10 of the 60 state seats irrespective of a multi-cornered fights and more than five of the 25 parliamentary constituencies.

Anything more, however, will have to come from tie-ups with local parties to ensure a straight or at worse three-cornered battles – Barisan Nasional, Pakatan and the UBF.

Celebrating UBF’s second anniversary yesterday, Jeffrey, when asked, said that STAR wanted a conclusion to the situation.

“I will be meeting Yong tomorrow [Monday] and we will discuss the SAPP and STAR’s ties,” he told reporters.

According to Jeffrey, STAR and SAPP have been in touch with each other as both parties have been pushing the Sabah for Sabahans agenda.

Both groups are fighting for the state’s autonomy and the re-instatement of the 20-point agreement which includes freedom of religion.

“If they [SAPP] decide to join Pakatan then SAPP will be part of the Malaya Agenda. We see ourselves as the Borneo Agenda.

“If this is SAPP’s stand, then we not worried about the seats allocation anymore because they will decide among themselves.

“We want their decision so that it would easier for us to plan. We do not want to leave it hanging.

“We want SAPP to make public its allegiance, then the issue of seats allocation between STAR and SAPP can be resolved,” said Jeffrey.

Earlier this month, Yong had admitted to “ongoing” talks with STAR on seat negotiations, adding that he hoped to “fine tune” in the weeks ahead.

Post election

Meanwhile, the news on the grapevine is that a top “influential” figure in Sabah Umno has asked Jeffrey to hold back from contesting in some constituencies for fear that their candidates would lose.

These candidates were apparently “important” individuals and Sabah Umno could not afford to lose these seats, among them being Kota Belud.

It lends weight to a comment Jeffrey made last week that if BN won Putrajaya hands down and if STAR won in the state election, his party would work with BN instead as “it has no choice”.