Bingkasan, who has served for 20 years with Upko, decided to do so seven months after the party suffered heavy losses in the state elections last year.

He cited his failure to help the party deliver victories in the 12 seats it contested as the major reason behind his resignation. The party only won one seat.

The party’s vice-president, Lucas Umbul, left Upko last month to join STAR.

Bingkasan, who was also an aide to former federal minister and Upko founder Bernard Giluk Dompok, said the 16th Sabah election last September was a “black mark” in his political journey.

“I shouldered the duties, did the job to the best of my ability, worked hard as the information chief but clearly that did not help the party,” he said in a statement here today.

“Upko lost 11 of the 12 state seats it stood in … I am sorry. As such, with a humble heart, I will step away to give other leaders the opportunity to lead as the information chief.”

He said he was also quitting as the party’s Supreme Council member.

He said he had handed in his resignation from his post on Jan 12 to the party’s secretary-general and also to his president, Wilfred Madius Tangau.

Bingkasan said he had no plans to make a quick return to active politics, adding he wanted to enjoy his rest for now as an ordinary party member.