KOTA KINABALU: Sabah STAR has asked former Parti Warisan vice-president Datuk Peter Anthony and Limbahau assemblyman Datuk Juil Nuantim to join the party.

       Sabah STAR president Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan ( pic) said his party was willing to work with the two leaders to unite the native Kadazandusun, Murut and Rungus communities under one banner.

       “A united Kadazandusun, Murut and Rungus people would be good for Sabah," he said in a statement Wednesday (Dec 29), a day after the two leaders left Warisan with plans to start a new party that will join the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition government.

       Kitingan also cast his net wider, suggesting that PKR's Inanam assemblyman Peto Galim join STAR as well, for the same reason.

       It had been speculated on social media that Galim was leaving PKR to join Peter, but this was denied.

       Kitingan also invited former Parti Cinta Sabah leaders led by Datuk Ewon Ebin to consider joining his party "to shape our region’s destiny”.

       Kitingan, who is also a Deputy Chief Minister, said the recent Sarawak election showed that Borneans are beginning to push back against peninsula-based parties by overwhelmingly voting for local ones.

       “The writing is already on the wall for peninsula-based parties. Now is the moment for Sabahans to band together and consolidate our political influence on the national stage,” he added.