Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah Explained

Country:Malaysia
United Sabah People's Party
Lang1:Malay
Name Lang1:Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah
ڤرتي برساتو رعيت سابه
Lang2:Chinese
Name Lang2:沙巴人民團結黨
沙巴人民团结党
Shābā rénmín tuánjié dǎng
Abbreviation:PBRS
President:Arthur Joseph Kurup
Secretary General:Richard Kastum
Spokesperson:Rayner Francis Udong
Leader1 Title:Deputy President
Leader2 Title:Women Leader
Leader2 Name:Zainon Hj Kayum
Leader3 Title:Youth Leader
Leader3 Name:Edwin Laimin
Founder:Joseph Kurup
Foundation:3 March 1994[1]
Legalised:11 March 1994
Split:United Sabah Party (PBS)
Headquarters:Blok B, Lot 19, Tingkat Dua, Lorong Singgah Mata 2, Asia City, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Youth Wing:Youth Section
Wing1 Title:Women's wing
Wing1:Women Section
Ideology:Nationalism
Position:Right-wing
Colours: Yellow, green, light blue
Seats1 Title:Dewan Negara
Seats2 Title:Dewan Rakyat
Seats2: (Sabah and Labuan seats)
Seats3 Title:Sabah State Legislative Assembly
Website:Facebook PBRS

The United Sabah People's Party (Malay: Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah; abbreviated: PBRS) is a minority political party based in Sabah, Malaysia. Presently PBRS is being led by its President Arthur Joseph Kurup. The party was previously led by its founding and first President; Joseph Kurup from 1994 to 2023. PBRS is officially a component party of Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition since 1994 except for a brief period from 2018 to 2020.

History

PBRS was formed by its founding President, Joseph Kurup who had led some disaffected members of the United Sabah Party (PBS) on 11 March 1994. On 10 June 1994, it was officially accepted as one of the component parties in the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.[2]

In the aftermath of the fall of BN coalition in the 2018 Malaysian general election (GE14), the party's president Joseph Kurup said they decided to quit BN but it was only confirmed after an announcement was made to the public after getting the green light from its Supreme Council on 12 May 2018.[3] [4] [5] PBRS applied to join the new ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition so as to ensure its promises can be fulfilled. As such application was later ignored, in addition to the statement of Sabah PH chief Christina Liew Chin Jin that PBRS has a 'very slim chance' to be a part of PH, PBRS decided to remain with Sabah BN-UMNO to form a new coalition with other Sabah-based parties, the United Alliance of Sabah or Gabungan Bersatu Sabah (GBS) .[6] [7] [8]

In the wake of the collapse of the PH federal government in the 2020 Malaysian political crisis, PBRS had attended again after a 2-year lapse the BN coalition's Supreme Council meeting along with other component parties of Peninsular Malaysia; UMNO, MCA and MIC on 12 May 2020, which had decided to declare their support for the new Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin and his new Perikatan Nasional (PN) alliance federal government.[9] PBRS deputy president who is the party's sole MP, Arthur Joseph Kurup was also appointed as the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department for Economic Affairs in the BN supported and aligned Muhyiddin's PN new ruling administration since March 2020.[10] BN secretary-general Annuar Musa announced that as the coalition Supreme Council which was attended by the PBRS president, Joseph Kurup himself, has implicate that PBRS is still remains or has rather returns as a BN coalition component.[11] On 9 January 2021, PBRS Deputy President, Arthur Joseph Kurup signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set-up Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) which contested the 2020 Sabah state election earlier and managed to win to form the Sabah state government.[12] [13] On 7 January 2023, Joseph Kurup stepped down as the 1st PBRS president and became the Honorary Chairman of PBRS after helming the party from its formation in 1994 to 2023 for 29 years, party deputy president and his son Arthur Joseph Kurup took over as the 2nd party president.[14]

Elected representatives

Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives)

Members of Parliament of the 15th Malaysian Parliament

See main article: Members of the Dewan Rakyat, 15th Malaysian Parliament. PBRS currently has only one member in the House of Representatives.

StateNo.Parliament Constituency MemberParty
P182 PBRS
Total

Dewan Undangan Negeri (State Legislative Assembly)

Malaysian State Assembly Representatives

See main article: List of Malaysian State Assembly Representatives (2022–present).

Sabah State Legislative Assembly

General election results

ElectionTotal seats wonSeats contestedTotal votesVoting PercentageOutcome of electionElection leader
19951
No representation in Parliament
Joseph Kurup
19991
No representation in Parliament
Joseph Kurup
200415,880 0.08%1 seat; Governing coalition Joseph Kurup
200810 0,00%
Governing coalition
Joseph Kurup
201319,467 0.09%
Governing coalition
Joseph Kurup
2018111,783 0.10%
Opposition coalition,
later Governing coalition
Arthur Joseph Kurup
20222
23,8770.15%
Governing coalition
Arthur Joseph Kurup

State election results

State electionState Legislative Assembly
Sabah State Legislative AssemblyTotal won / Total contested
2/3 majority
1999
2004
2008
2013
2018
2020

References

  1. Web site: Kronologi Penubuhan PBRS . Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah . 22 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100926034546/http://www.partipbrs.com/kronologi_penubuhan_pbrs.htm . 26 September 2010 . dead.
  2. News: The Sabah State Election of 1994: End of Kadazan Unity - Vol. 34, No. 10 (Oct., 1994), pp. 904-915 . James Chin . University of California Press. 2644969.
  3. Web site: Now, PBRS leaves Sabah BN. Durie Rainer Fong. Free Malaysia Today. 12 May 2018. 13 May 2018.
  4. Web site: PBRS is third party to leave Sabah BN. Malaysiakini. 12 May 2018. 12 May 2018.
  5. Web site: PBRS wants to work with Warisan. The Borneo Post. 12 May 2018. 12 May 2018.
  6. News: PBRS will remain with BN for now, says Kurup. Free Malaysia Today. 2018-10-11. en-US.
  7. News: PBRS goes back to Sabah Barisan after being rejected by Pakatan . Stephanie Leeh. 3 October 2018 . . 3 October 2018.
  8. News: Sabah BN coalition to be disbanded to pave way for Gabungan Bersatu . Kristy Inus. May 12, 2018 . . May 12, 2018.
  9. News: BN declares undivided support for Muhyiddin but wants time for PN proposal. Malaysiakini. 12 May 2020 . 12 May 2020.
  10. News: Six Sabah MPs included in new Federal Cabinet line-up. The Borneo Post. 9 March 2020. 12 May 2020.
  11. News: BN declares undivided support for Muhyiddin but wants time for PN proposal. Harian Metro. 14 May 2020. ms . 14 May 2020.
  12. News: Malaysian PM Muhyiddin forms Gabungan Rakyat Sabah alliance to take on Sabah polls . 11 February 2021 . . 12 September 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201030075917/https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysian-pm-muhyiddin-forms-gabungan-rakyat-sabah-alliance-to-take-on-sabah-polls . 30 October 2020. live.
  13. Web site: GRS Signs MOU To Continue Cooperation Reject Outside Interference. The Borneo Post. 6 January 2017. 30 April 2021.
  14. Web site: Joseph Kurup steps down as PBRS president, his son Arthur takes over. The Star. 7 January 2023. 7 January 2023.

External links