KOTA KINABALU: Abidin Madingkir, the former Upko vice-president who defected to support former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman, has joined STAR, the party led by Keningau MP Jeffrey Kitingan.
Abidin, who is the Paginatan assemblyman, said he and some 700 supporters decided to join STAR because it is vocal in fighting for Sabah’s rights, particularly those under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
He told FMT 300 other Upko members also joined STAR along with them.
Asked whether he will defend his seat in the coming state election, Abidin said he would leave it to Jeffrey to make a decision.
Abidin was among the 32 assemblymen who defected to back Musa as the new chief minister but the move collapsed when incumbent chief minister Shafie Apdal obtained the Sabah governor’s consent to dissolve the state assembly, paving the way for fresh elections.