Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan

Summary

Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan is the founding President of Sabah's Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) and has held the Tambunan state seat and Keningau parliamentary seat since 2018. He is a long-standing advocate for the full implementation of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and Sabah's constitutional rights, including the state's 40% revenue entitlement. After previously serving as Sabah's Deputy Chief Minister I until November 2025, STAR entered opposition after the 17th Sabah State Election, with Kitingan reaffirming the party's stance that Sabah should be governed only by local parties.

Biography

Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan (born 22 October 1948) is a Malaysian politician from Sabah and the founding President of Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) [1]. He was born in Kota Marudu but hails from the interior district of Tambunan, Sabah [1]. He holds a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and a PhD awarded in 1984 from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University [1]. He began his political career in 1990 with Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), the party led by his elder brother Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who served as Sabah Chief Minister from 1985 to 1994 [1]. Jeffrey subsequently passed through several parties — including AKAR, PBS, PBRS, PKR, and the Sarawak-based STAR — before establishing the Sabah-based Homeland Solidarity Party (STAR) in July 2016 [1]. He has served as Member of Parliament for Keningau and Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly for Tambunan since the 2018 general election [1]. He previously served as Member for Bingkor from 1994 to 2008 [1]. At the state level, he served as Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah II from October 2020, was promoted to Deputy Chief Minister I in January 2023, and held the post until November 2025 [1]. He also served as Sabah State Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries from September 2020 to December 2025 [1]. At the federal level, he served as Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture from March to September 2020, and earlier as Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government from August 1994 to May 1995 [1]. In November 2025, he successfully defended his Tambunan state seat in the 17th Sabah State Election, obtaining 12,595 votes with a majority of 7,311 [2]. STAR entered opposition following the 2025 election, with Kitingan declaring the party's support only for an all-local party Sabah government [3].

Known for

Jeffrey Kitingan is most closely associated with the advocacy of Sabah's rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and the 20-Point Agreement, including the demand for Sabah's constitutional entitlement to 40% of federal revenue [4]. He founded STAR in 2016 as a Sabah-based political vehicle for these state-rights positions. He is also known for his extensive history of party changes over several decades, having participated in multiple Sabah parties before establishing his own [1].

Political positions

Jeffrey Kitingan's dominant political position centres on the full implementation of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the restoration of Sabah's constitutionally-guaranteed rights, including the 40% federal revenue share. In March 2026, he publicly criticised the federal government's request for a stay on a High Court ruling affirming Sabah's right to 40% of federal revenue, describing the move as contradictory [4]. He consistently advocates for Sabah's state government to be composed solely of local parties, free from coalitions dependent on Peninsular-based parties, which he describes as undermining Sabah's bargaining power [3]. Following the 2025 Sabah state election, STAR sat in opposition under this principle, with Kitingan stating: "We will support policies that protect Sabah, and we will oppose any move that undermines MA63, the Constitution, or the long struggle for Sabah for Sabahans" [3]. He has also called on Malaysia to send a diplomatic protest to China and the United Nations over Chinese military activities in the South China Sea [4]. On Sabah's immigration powers, he has advocated for the state to use its authority to remove individuals deemed threats to public order [3].

Education

1. 1984Awarded a PhD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.⛓
2. Before 1990Graduated with a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.⛓

Before politics

1. Before 1991Served as Director of the Institute for Development Studies (IDS), a Sabah state think-tank.⛓

Political career

1. 1990Entered politics with Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), the party led by his brother Joseph Pairin Kitingan.⛓
2. 1991Detained without trial under the Internal Security Act (ISA) as part of Operation Talkak on suspicions of plotting to secede Sabah from Malaysia; held for approximately 26 months. According to Malay Mail, Jeffrey Kitingan himself described the detention as lasting 26 months.⛓
3. 1994Won the Bingkor state seat; appointed Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government (August 1994–May 1995) at the federal level.⛓
4. 2006Joined Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and became the party's Vice-President representing the East Malaysian quota.⛓
5. December 2010Founded the United Borneo Alliance (UBA) NGO, aimed at championing Sabah and Sarawak rights under the 20-Point Agreement and the Malaysia Agreement.⛓
6. 2012Launched the Sabah chapter of the Sarawak-based State Reform Party (STAR).⛓
7. July 2016Founded Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR), a Sabah-based party, as a separate entity from the Sarawak-based STAR, and became its founding President.⛓
8. May 2018Won the Tambunan state seat in GE14, defeating his elder brother Joseph Pairin Kitingan, and also won the Keningau parliamentary seat. Appointed Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah.⛓
9. March 2020Appointed Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture at the federal level.⛓
10. September 2020Resigned as Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture upon appointment as Deputy Chief Minister II of Sabah following the 2020 Sabah state election; STAR won 6 state seats.⛓
11. January 2023Promoted to Deputy Chief Minister I of Sabah, succeeding Bung Mokhtar Radin who was dropped due to a political crisis.⛓
12. November 2022Retained the Keningau parliamentary seat in GE15 under the GRS banner.⛓
13. October 2025STAR withdrew from GRS ahead of the 17th Sabah State Election dissolution; five of six STAR assemblymen defied Kitingan and declared support for GRS independently.⛓
14. November 2025Retained the Tambunan state seat in the 17th Sabah State Election with 12,595 votes and a majority of 7,311, becoming the oldest winner in the election at age 78.⛓
15. December 2025Declared STAR would remain in opposition, stating the party would only support an all-local party Sabah government. STAR held two seats following the election.⛓

Election history

• 2025Tambunan (State)Won⛓
• 2022Keningau (Parliament)Won⛓
• 2020Tambunan (State)Won⛓
• 2018Tambunan (State)Won⛓
• 2018Keningau (Parliament)Won⛓
• 2013Keningau (Parliament)Lost⛓
• 2008Keningau (Parliament)Lost⛓

Perspectives on key issues

• VerifiedFactsJeffrey Kitingan retained the Tambunan state seat in the 17th Sabah State Election (November 2025) with 12,595 votes and a majority of 7,311 in a seven-cornered contest. He became the oldest winner at age 78. Tambunan has 29,187 registered voters and is one of three state seats under the Keningau parliamentary constituency.⛓
• GovernmentFollowing the 2025 election, STAR initially declared opposition but subsequently announced support for the GRS-led government under Chief Minister Hajiji Noor. According to Malay Mail, Kitingan said the decision was taken to ensure administrative stability and prevent Tambunan from being left behind in the state's development agenda.⛓
• OppositionFive of the six STAR assemblymen elected in the 16th Sabah State Assembly defied Kitingan's decision to withdraw from GRS ahead of the 2025 election and instead declared individual support for GRS. The Star reported that this left Kitingan as the only STAR representative not aligned with GRS at that point.⛓
• ExpertThe Edge Malaysia reported that Kitingan won the Keningau parliamentary seat in GE14 with just a 45-vote majority — the smallest margin of any parliamentary seat in that election — in a six-cornered fight with 13,286 votes.⛓
• PublicMalaysiakini reported that in the 2020 Sabah state election, STAR scored its best-ever electoral result with six of eight candidates winning. The party's base mainly consists of Sabah's non-Muslim native Kadazan-Dusun Murut (KDM) population.⛓