Joseph Pairin Kitingan, 72, while wanting to scale back on his politics, is not prepared to risk his party, PBS, losing in the 13th general election. |
KOTA KINABALU: In the interior towns in the state, Parti Bersatu
Sabah (PBS) and its septuagenarian leader, Joseph Pairin Kitingan, are
greeted with either scorn or grudging respect, depending on who you talk
to.
Ask Joseph, a youth in Tambunan who declined to give his full name,
and he is unequivocal in his answer about the failings of the “huguan
siou” or paramount chief of the Kadazandusun community.
“What has he done since becoming deputy chief minister?” he asks as
he decries the politics of the ruling Umno-led Barisan Nasional
coalition to which Pairin hitched his party some 20 years ago.