KOTA KINABALU — In a rare display of unity, Sabah’s most influential Kadazan, Dusun and Murut (KDM) leaders today issued a rare joint call for voters to heed the growing local sentiment and back Sabah-based parties in the coming state election.

Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) founder Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan and current acting president Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam, United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko ex-president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok and current president Datuk Ewon Benedick, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) president Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan and former chief justice of Malaysia Tun Richard Malanjum agreed that local parties should be leading Sabah’s political future.

The three current presidents – Jeffrey, Ewon and Joachim — also agreed that despite their parties contesting against one another, Sabahans should be assured that they did ultimately share the same goal and urged voters to prioritise a locally anchored government.

The public set-up was particularly meaningful as the KDM vote will be largely split between several parties vying for their vote across 25 to 30 seats. Upko and to a certain extent, Star are splinter parties of PBS. 

KDM is the colloquial term used to describe the non-Muslim indigenous communities in Sabah that also includes the Rungus, Lundayeh, Sungai, Tidong, Lotud, Tatana and many other sub groups, usually residing in interior and highland areas.

Joseph, who holds the distinction of being the Huguon Siou or paramount leader of the KDM community, delivered the strongest message of the day, warning that Sabah had been “weakened” since joining Malaysia and had failed to regain many of the rights promised under MA63.

“We have been fighting for our rights to come back… but we have not gone very far,” he said during a closed pre-recorded roundtable meeting set up by grassroot platform Sabah Way Forward.

He pointed out that Sarawak has progressed further in reclaiming its constitutional rights, while Sabah continues to face delays — even on the landmark 40 per cent revenue entitlement recently affirmed by the High Court of Kota Kinabalu.

He accused the federal government of using “magic tricks” to delay implementation.

“They say they won’t appeal the 40 per cent ruling, but they are appealing everything else. To me, this is camouflage,” he said.

Joseph said that Sabah moved “from the frying pan into the fire” after the British left, only to be dominated by Peninsular Malaysia, pointing out that Sabah’s struggle to reclaim its rights under MA63 has made limited progress compared to Sarawak.

Calling for unity across all Sabah communities and parties, Joseph said only a locally anchored government can protect Sabah’s sovereignty, steer its future, and restore the rights neglected over decades.

“Why are we quarrelling among ourselves? If we continue to be divided, we are easily controlled. Just like a puppet.

“If we do not unite, others will continue to hold the steering wheel.” he said.

Former chief minister Dompok said the meeting should serve as a moment of “soul searching” to do what is best moving forwards.

He compared Sabah’s political evolution to Sarawak’s, noting that Sarawak had saw the potential problems early on and learnt to work together while limiting Peninsular party influence.

“In Sabah, the Malaya parties came in and became entrenched for decades. Sarawak does not have this problem,” he said.

“Now let’s look at what possible cooperation can be harvested from this meeting between the three party presidents.

“I think the maximum cooperation must prevail. There’s still time. Like in the American system, the primary, somebody will drop out. And then we can decide who should go up. Can you imagine if you get 10 seats, for example, they suddenly drop out and you’re left with one from each party perhaps. Wouldn’t that be best?” he said.

Dompok said that the onus was on the current presidents now to “dig deep” and find the best way forward.

Star president Jeffrey, a long-time vocal proponent for state rights and Joseph’s younger brother, said that this was “the mother of all elections” that would determine whether Sabah can reclaim political power.

“We are here because we are still of one heart to face our challenges together,” he said.

Jeffrey stressed that genuine self-determination begins when wholly local state government.

“Our goal is to take back political power. That is the basic thing. Once local parties form the Sabah government, then we can move forward — economy, infrastructure, our rights under MA63.”

He said the parties were not “fighting each other”, but were constrained by existing party machinery.

Former Chief Justice of Malaysia Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, said he hoped to see a strong bloc of local parties come together on the night of polling day when votes were being counted and the consequential following hours. 

There was a moment of slight apprehension in the 47-minute recording when Joachim was explaining the party’s position within the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah – Pakatan Harapan governing coalition that Jeffrey chimed in cheekily that their Pakatan Harapan partners had asked for too many seats.

Joachim dismissed his argument and insisted that it was the local parties that was dominant in the partnership to which Pairin then interrupted to say that it should be “minus DAP, minus PKR, minus Umno”.

PBS, which Pairin founded in 1985 to oppose the then Berjaya government, is the only one of the KDM parties present that was in alliance with a national coalition. Star and Upko had recently quit GRS and Pakatan Harapan in the last month to pursue a more local agenda and avoid being tied to larger national interests.