JEFFREY RESIGNS FOR UBF’S POLITICAL CAUSE

By: NILAKRISNA J

AMIDST internet rumours and speculations of Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan’s resignation from PKR, a statement was issued late Sunday night to confirm that Dr. Jeffrey has issued a letter of resignation to the President of PKR, Dato Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, dated the 31st December 2010.

In his statement to the press, Dr. Jeffrey expressed his disappointment that rumours should circulate distastefully on his decision prior to a planned press conference to announce his decision properly to the public after the New Year celebrations.

“I had hoped for everyone to enjoy their New Year celebrations and for the festivities to settle down before I make the announcement of my resignation from PKR. For speculators to jump on this and character assassinate without giving me a chance to even enjoy the New Year celebrations with my family and friends is distasteful and without manners,” Dr. Jeffrey said.

He added, “It was not an easy decision but it is the one I must inevitably make in the light of what I must do for the people of Sabah and Sarawak. I have taken many boats on my political journey and every time the boat veers off course and goes further away from my planned destination, I must bid the boatman farewell.

“For, I realised in Malaysian politics that at the end of the day, the destination was never meant to head towards Borneo. As a politician, you choose your vehicles for an agenda you believe in. It is hard to choose a vehicle when the Borneo Agenda is never really paramount or obvious.

“For whatever anyone may choose to say, I believe strongly that leaving PKR is something I must do to focus on what I have started in the United Borneo Front. As a leader of this pressure group I will push for the Borneo Agenda across all divides to infiltrate the manifestoes and agenda of every political parties that consider Sabah and Sarawak to be equal partners to the Federation. This will remain a non-political pressure group led by individuals like myself who will push for a new political model even after I’m no longer around.”

Dr. Jeffrey also confirmed that if he is to form or join another political party it will be “a boat that will steer the way towards an autonomous Sabah and Sarawak which will bear the ticket towards a Borneo Agenda and the ideals of the United Borneo Front and one in which all his staunch and loyal supporters can say is a boat genuinely and proudly made in Borneo.”

“I remain very close friends with the PKR party leadership and part amicably with no hard feelings. I remain fully committed to the ideals and demands I have espoused in the United Borneo Front and that I intend to approach the negotiating table for our special rights and privileges with both the BN and PR West Malaysian alliances from a strong and new Borneo alliance platform.

“Whether BN or PR forms the next government remains largely irrelevant to the Borneo states if the Borneo Agenda remains irrelevant to them. If we continue to be disenfranchised and denied the right to participate equally in the political decision making process in parliament and denied the right to review our share of the oil revenue, there is no sense in this type of political allegiance because Sabahans and Sarawakians are then left fighting for the scraps and not having a chunk of a very large cake.

“To take what is rightfully ours without a chance of veto and then having the audacity to call us poor is nonsense and I will not stand up for this as a politician. The boat is irrelevant as long as your journey is made towards your desired destination. I am for Borneo and remain steadfastly loyal to that cause for the rest of my life. I will decide my political future in due course,” he concluded in his statement.