Kitingan said Ishak’s appointment was made directly by chief minister Hajiji Noor and was not discussed with his party. Ishak’s portfolio is unclear at the moment.

The former deputy chief minister said Ishak was elected by the people of Bingkor and STAR would respect his right to accept the appointment.

“STAR itself will not be a part of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-led government. Our stand has not changed – Sabah should be governed by local parties, not coalitions that are dependent on influences based in Malaya.

“STAR will act as a responsible opposition. We will support policies that protect Sabah and oppose any step that would affect Sabah’s rights under the constitution and Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

“We support having the state government being fully formed by local parties. Anything less would weaken our bargaining power and Sabah’s future,” he said in a Facebook post.

Hajiji had announced his state Cabinet yesterday, with GRS secretary-general Masidi Manjun, Upko president Ewon Benedick and Parti Bersatu Sabah president Joachim Gunsalam made deputy chief ministers.

Pakatan Harapan’s sole assemblyman Jamawi Jaafar and Barisan Nasional’s Jafry Ariffin, respectively, were appointed ministers while the rest of the Cabinet was from GRS.

STAR, which only has two assemblymen, initially gave Hajiji its backing as chief minister but later announced it was withdrawing its support after being left out of the state Cabinet.

Kitingan’s latest announcement means STAR will be in an interesting position in the state assembly, with Ishak sitting in the government bloc and Kitingan on the opposition bench.