Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan (born 22 October 1948) is

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He served as the Deputy Chief Minister II of Sabah from 2020 to 2023 and State Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries since 2020 (also served in the same position for a brief period in May 2018). In January 2023, he was appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister I of Sabah succeeding Bung Mokhtar, who was dropped due to a political crisis (but retained his ministerial portfolio). At the federal level, he served as the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture from March 2020 to his resignation in September 2020 and Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government from August 1994 to May 1995. He has served as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Keningau Keningau ( ms, Pekan Keningau) is the capital of the Keningau District in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. It is the fifth-largest town in Sabah, as well one of the oldest. Keningau is between Tambunan and Tenom. The town had an estim ...

since May 2018, Member of the

Sabah State Legislative Assembly The Sabah State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah, Kadazandusun language, Kadazandusun: ''Langga' Tinukuan Pogun Sabah'') is a part of the legislature of Sabah, Malaysia, the other being the List of Yang di-Pertua Negeri of ...

(MLA) for

Tambunan Tambunan ( ms, Pekan Tambunan) is the capital of the Tambunan District in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 35,667 in 2010. It is located 80 kilometres east of the state capital, Kota Kinabalu (t ...

since May 2018 and Bingkor from May 2013 to May 2018. He has served and been founding President of the

Homeland Solidarity Party Homeland Solidarity Party (STAR; ms, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku ) is a Sabah-based political party. The party was founded on 1 July 2016 by Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Jeffrey G. Kitingan. He is Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan's younger brothe ...

(STAR), a component party of the ruling

Gabungan Rakyat Sabah Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (abbrev:GRS; en, Sabah People's Alliance), also officially known as the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah Party or for shorts GRS Party is an official registered political coalition and the current ruling coalition in Sabah. Hajiji ...

(GRS) and a former component party of the federal and state ruling

Perikatan Nasional The National Alliance ( ms, Perikatan Nasional; abbrev: PN) is a political coalition composed of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (GERAKAN). This coalition was pr ...

(PN) coalition, since July 2016.

Background

He was born in the town of

Kota Marudu Kota Marudu ( ms, Pekan Kota Marudu) is the capital of the Kota Marudu District in the Kudat Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 8,716 in 2010. It is located 130 kilometres north of the state capital, Kot ...

but hailed from the interior district of

. He graduated with an

Master of Public Administration The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

. He has a PhD awarded in 1984 from the

Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The School is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations and is well-ranked in it ...

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

. His brother,

Joseph Pairin Kitingan Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Pairin Kitingan (born 17 August 1940) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 7th Chief Minister of Sabah from April 1985 to March 1994 and Member of Parliament (MP) for Keningau from August 1986 to May 2 ...

served as the

Chief Minister of Sabah The Ketua Menteri Sabah or Chief Minister of Sabah is the head of government of the Malaysian state of Sabah. Since September 2020, the position has been held by Hajiji Noor from the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), Perikatan Nasiona ...

from 1985 to 1994.

Political career

He is known to be a controversial politician, having been detained without trial under the

Internal Security Act Internal Security Act may refer to: * Internal Security Act 1960, former Malaysian law *Internal Security Act (Singapore) * McCarran Internal Security Act, a United States federal law *Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, a South African law, rename ...

by the

Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 se ...

-controlled federal government on suspicion of plotting to

secede Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a polity, political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former republics of ...

Sabah from the federation of Malaysia, although his defenders argue that this was a politically motivated move. He is also known to have switched political parties a number of times. In 1990, he started his political career together with his brother

Parti Bersatu Sabah The United Sabah Party ( ms, Parti Bersatu Sabah, abbreviated PBS) is a political party of Sabah. The PBS was founded by Joseph Pairin Kitingan in 1985 and it is Sabah's oldest local party. In August 2020, PBS confirmed that they would be using ...

(PBS). However, after the 1994 state election, he abandoned his brother and PBS to join

Angkatan Keadilan Rakyat People's Justice Front or in ms, Angkatan Keadilan Rakyat (AKAR) was a splinter party of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) formed in 1989 which was led by Dusun and Bajau ethnic-based leaders namely Mark Koding, Kalakau Untol and Pandikar Amin Mulia. I ...

(AKAR) party, leading to the downfall of the PBS government in Sabah. He tried to climb to the top post of the AKAR party but failed and rejoined PBS in 1996. However, in 2000, he quit PBS again and joined

Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah The United Sabah People's Party ( ms, Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah; abbreviated: PBRS) is a minority political party based in Sabah, Malaysia. Presently PBRS is being led by its founding and first President; Joseph Kurup. PBRS is officially a c ...

(PBRS), tried to take over the party but failed again. He then quit the PBRS party in 2002 and tried to join

United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation The United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation ( ms, Pertubuhan Kinabalu Progresif Bersatu; abbrev: UPKO) is a multiracial political party based in Sabah, Malaysia. The party was rebranded from its previous party's name, United Pasokmomogun Ka ...

(UPKO). However, he quickly withdrew his membership application from UPKO and tried to join back PBS again for the third time, but PBS did not welcome him back into the party. In 2003, he applied to join the

United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation (Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its in ...

(UMNO) twice: one through UMNO headquarters in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

, but was rejected. He then applied another membership through UMNO

branch in Sabah using his legal name "Gapari bin Kitingan @ Geoffrey Kitingan" and was mistakenly accepted by UMNO. Jeffrey was able to produce his UMNO membership card. However, once the UMNO supreme council realised their error, they immediately revoked Jeffrey's membership. Jeffrey remained independent of any party until he was accepted into

Parti Keadilan Rakyat The People's Justice Party ( ms, Parti Keadilan Rakyat , often known simply as KEADILAN or PKR) is a reformist political party in Malaysia, formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party. The ...

(PKR) in 2006 where he became the vice-president of the party. He resigned his vice-president post in 2009 but remained as a party member. In December 2010, Jeffrey founded a NGO named

United Borneo Alliance United Borneo Alliance (abbreviated UBA), was formed by Jeffrey Kitingan in 2012 after he launched the Sabah chapter of Sarawak-based State Reform Party (STAR). Jeffrey also had earlier set-up the preceding United Borneo Front (UBF), the form ...

(UBA), which aimed to strive the rights of

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

and

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

in accordance to

20-point agreement The 20-point agreement, or the 20-point memorandum, is a list of 20 points drawn up by North Borneo, proposing terms for its incorporation into the new federation as the State of Sabah, during negotiations prior to the formation of Malaysia. In t ...

and

Malaysia Agreement The Malaysia Agreement or the Agreement relating to Malaysia between United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore (MA63) was the agreement which combined North Borneo, Sarawak, ...

. He finally quit the PKR party in January 2011. In 2012, Jeffrey launched the Sabah chapter of Sarawak-based

State Reform Party Sarawak People's Aspiration Party or ( ms, "Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak", abbreviated ASPIRASI), is a political party based in Sarawak, Malaysia, renamed and rebranded from previously State Reform Party abbreviated STAR. Background and histo ...

(STAR). in 2015, he brought his UBA into

United Sabah Alliance The United Sabah Alliance ( ms, Gabungan Sabah Bersatu ; abbreviated: USA) was a political coalition bringing together Sabah-based parties in Malaysia. It was jointly founded by the Sabah Progressive Party and Homeland Solidarity Party after SA ...

(USA), just before he brought his Sabah chapter out of the Sarawak-based STAR to establish a Sabah-based party named

(STAR) in 2016. In the 2008 general election, he challenged his brother Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Pairin from BN-PBS at the

parliamentary constituency, but lost. Instead he won the Sabah State Legislative constituency of Bingkor. Jeffrey has been referred as political "

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

" (''katak'' in

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

) for his penchant of party hopping throughout his political career. Jeffrey responded by commenting that party hopping has been the common practice in Sabah politics. He defended himself that he switches parties in order to find the one that is suitable to fight for the rights of the Sabah people.

2018 state election decision maker and subsequent results

Following the 2018 general election, the BN and the coalition of

Pakatan Harapan The Alliance of Hope ( ms, Pakatan Harapan; abbrev: PH; stylized as HARAPAN) is a Malaysian political coalition consisting of centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has been the r ...

(PH) with

Sabah Heritage Party The Heritage Party ( ms, Parti Warisan or Warisan) is a multi-racial political party in Malaysia which was rebranded and renamed from the Sabah Heritage Party ( ms, Parti Warisan Sabah), a Sabah-based party led by Shafie Apdal formed earlier on ...

(WARISAN) are tied up with 29-29 seats in the

2018 Sabah state election The 2018 Sabah state election took place on 9 May 2018 in concurrence with the 14th Malaysian general election. This election was to elect 60 members of the 15th Sabah State Legislative Assembly. The previous Assembly was dissolved on 7 April 2 ...

. Jeffrey with his party of

(STAR) under the

(USA) which are not aligned from either the two sides, has won two seats in the election and subsequently emerged as the decision maker for the formation of a state government from the two sides. He then decide to team up with the BN to form coalition state government with him appointed as a Deputy Chief Minister while

Musa Aman Musa Bin Haji Aman ( Jawi: موسى بن حاج أمان; born 30 March 1951) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 14th Chief Minister, State Minister of Finance from March 2003 to May 2018, Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assemb ...

from BN continue to become the Chief Minister for another 5 years under the new coalition government. His decision to maintain the position of BN in Sabah then drew many criticism from Sabahan residents who want to see a change under the administration of a new state government with many began to labelling him as a "traitor" towards the state, especially when he was once a staunch opposition towards BN rule before the election. It is also reported that before the election, Jeffrey has been issue with 7-days

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

notice. Following his sudden decision to work with BN, the Sabah branch of PKR has urged the

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission ( ms, Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia), abbreviated MACC or ''SPRM'', (formerly known as Anti-Corruption Agency, ACA or ''Badan Pencegah Rasuah'', ''BPR'') is a government agency in Malaysia that ...

(MACC) to probe the two individuals, citing a “possibility of money changing hands between the two” that could leading to a sudden political partnership. Following the complaint, Prime Minister

Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...

announced that they will not recognise the election in Sabah if corruption involved. Situation also change when six seats assemblymen from the BN allied party of UPKO switched their allegiance to WARISAN, giving the

Shafie Apdal Datuk Seri Panglima Mohd Shafie bin Apdal ( Jawi: محمد شافعي بن أفضل; born 20 October 1956) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Semporna since April 1995, State Leader of the Opposition o ...

party an advantage with 35 seats which sufficient to establish a valid state government. In addition, the Sabah

Yang di-Pertua Negeri In Malaysia, the Yang di-Pertua Negeri ( in Malay) is a constitutional title given to the head of state in states without a Ruler, namely: Penang, Malacca, Sabah and Sarawak. This is in constrast to a Ruler () which is a constitutional title give ...

(TYT)

Juhar Mahiruddin Tun Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Juhar bin Mahiruddin ( ms, جوهر بن ماهرالدين, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; born 5 November 1953) is a Malaysian politician who has been the 10th Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah since Januar ...

also had requested Musa to step down from his position, as Musa current position has contravened the Article 7(1) of the Sabah State Constitution when he lost the total majority state seats. On 14 May 2018, a letter from TYT are being delivered to Musa residence which stating that he is no longer the Chief Minister effective from 12 May 2018. During the 2020 Malaysian political crisis, Kitingan supported

to be reinstated as Prime Minister after his resignation.

2020 state election

In the

2020 Sabah state election The 2020 Sabah state election took place on 26 September 2020 to elect all 73 elected members of the 16th Sabah State Legislative Assembly. The previous Assembly was dissolved on 30 July 2020. The state snap election was called prematurely a ...

, he agreed lead his party,

STAR A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

to joined Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) against Warisan Plus. This resulted in his party winning 6 seats in the state election, Jeffrey himself won the

seat. After winning the election, he was appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister II, serving with Datuk Bung Mokhtar as Deputy Chief Minister I and Datuk Joachim Gunsalam as Deputy Chief Minister III. On the day of his appointment as Deputy Chief Minister II, he resigned as Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture.

Carbon credit deal

In late 2021,

Mongabay Mongabay (mongabay.com) is a conservation news web portal that reports on environmental science, energy, and green design, and features extensive information on tropical rainforests, including pictures and deforestation statistics for countries ...

reported that Kitingan was involved in a

carbon credit A carbon credit is a generic term for any tradable certificate or permit representing the right to emit a set amount of carbon dioxide or the equivalent amount of a different greenhouse gas (tCO2e). Carbon credits and carbon markets are a compo ...

deal that was signed in October 2021 that declared 2 million hectares as protected areas, without the consultation of

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

residing there. Civil society groups and indigenous leaders were critical over the secrecy of the agreement and whether the carbon accrediting company, Hoch Standard, had prior experience to implement it.

Personal life

Jeffrey is currently married to Cecilia Kitingan, a fellow native of Tambunan who hailed from a village named Kampung Monsok (he was from another village known as Kampung Karanaan), whilst he is separated from his

Caucasian American White Americans are Americans who identify as and are perceived to be white people. This group constitutes the majority of the people in the United States. As of the 2020 Census, 61.6%, or 204,277,273 people, were white alone. This represented ...

wife, Susan. In January 2021, Jeffrey tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and underwent treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Both Kitingan and his wife were recovered and discharged from hospital after about two weeks later.

Election results

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

* : **

MY Darjah Jasa Negara - Order of Meritorious Service - PJN

Commander of the

Order of Meritorious Service The Distinguished Order of Meritorious Service ( ms, Darjah Yang Mulia Jasa Negara) is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country. It should not be confused with the Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: ...

(PJN) - Datuk (2021) * : ** MY-SAB Order of Kinabalu - PGDK

Commander of the

Order of Kinabalu The Illustrious Order of Kinabalu (Malay: ''Darjah Yang Amat Mulia Kinabalu'') is the only order conferred by the Governor of Sabah, Malaysia. Background The Illustrious Order of Kinabalu is established by virtue of Section 3(a) of State Honou ...

(PGDK) – Datuk (1987) ** MY-SAB Order of Kinabalu - SPDK

Grand Commander of the

(SPDK) – Datuk Seri Panglima (2020)

Kadazan, Dusun, Murut & Rungus (KDMR) tribes honours

*Huguan Siou Lundu Mirongod (2016) **On 16 December 2016, Jeffrey Kitingan was given the title of Huguan Siou Lundu Mirongod which means the brave paramount thinker of the tribe. The installation of this title was done by the keeper of the “Adat” and Traditions of the KadazanDusuns, Tindarama Bobolian Chief, OKK Ammann Sirom Simbuna OT Tarantab in Kota Belud. This is the second highest honours in the Tribe after Huguan Siou.