Five years on, the Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) president wants to let go of the seat in favour of the Tambunan seat, held by his brother and former chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan.
“But Bingkor will remain the fortress for Star. We have built our base here and the people are supportive of us. My intention to contest Tambunan does not mean I am abandoning the people in Bingkor who gave me my first victory.
“To be clear, I will again stand in the Keningau parliamentary seat and if this time around I win it, the people in Bingkor will still see me around because this state constituency is under Keningau constituency,” he told FMT.
Jeffrey has already named Bingkor Star chairman Robert Tawi to stand for the seat.
It is a big shoe to fill for Robert, a Muslim convert, but he can rely on the full support of Jeffrey and, more importantly, his large extended family in Bingkor.
He is knowledgeable about issues in Bingkor and loyal to the party, which was only formally registered two years ago.
However, one Star member told FMT that while Robert was well-liked, it was no secret that some factions within the party were unhappy with him.
“He is doing his best though, going to the ground and meeting the people. Some people think he is too uptight and he needs to be friendlier, especially to the voters in the rural areas,” she said.
If things go as planned for Star, it means that Robert will be up against a strong challenge from the BN.
The Bingkor seat is allocated to the United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) by the BN. However, rumours have it that the party might be swapping the seat with Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) in favour of the Kadamaian seat in the Kota Belud parliamentary constituency.
This is because Kadamaian, which is a PBS seat, is also the home of Upko Komulakan (junior wing) chief Ewon Benedikt and after years of hardwork on the ground, it is possible that Upko would want to reward Benedikt.
This view is supported by the fact that Upko has largely been quiet in Bingkor but the party’s acting president Madius Tangau has visited Kadamaian quite often recently.
Kadamaian was won by PKR candidate Jeremy Malajad in 2013, defeating PBS candidate Timbon Lagadan by 889 votes.
If that is the case, it will explain why Bingkor PBS chief Piter Aliun has been active on the ground, campaigning for BN.
At the same time, newcomer Parti Warisan Sabah has been making inroads in Keningau, including Bingkor, welcoming new members into its fold.
But Jeffrey is undaunted by this, saying that so far, Star is intact in Keningau.
“If you look at those who joined Warisan, most of them are from PKR or DAP and Umno. Good, they are here to split the votes from our rivals because as far as we are concerned, Star is as strong as ever in Bingkor and in the interior, in general,” he said.
Jeffrey is also unconcerned with the DAP’s announcement that the party would field a candidate in Bingkor in the person of Keningau DAP chairman Peter Saili.
“This DAP, they went to villages, they built micro-hydro for the people there and they think they can win elections already. I am not convinced.
“And besides, it is quite disappointing that they choose to contest in a seat where the opposition has already won when they should be trying to defeat BN in other areas,” he said.
Whatever it is, the battle is on for Star to try and retain the seat which their charismatic president has won for them.
The only credible challenge at the moment seems to come from BN, particularly if the rumours that PBS will be taking over the seat from Upko are true.
“It will be a close call but I am confident we will win again,” said Jeffrey.
Meanwhile, Aliun told FMT that Jeffrey was lucky that his constituency is under the Keningau constituency where Pairin is the MP.
“Pairin has carried out various projects in Bingkor such as paving village roads, constructing mini halls and building the water treatment plant in Kg Bunsit so that the whole of Bingkor is provided with clean water,” he said.
Compared with this, Aliun said Star under Jeffrey had failed to develop Bingkor or help the people.
Because of this, he believes Bingkor voters must choose development over ideology since Bingkor is still in dire need of the government’s assistance.
He is confident BN will triumph this time around, especially because there are too many opposition parties competing with one another there including the DAP, Warisan and Parti Kebangsaan Sabah in addition to Star.