KOTA KINABALU - Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR Sabah) Youth Exco Chief Jordan Jude Ellron has resigned with immediate effect, citing disappointment that no young candidates were fielded by the party in the upcoming 17th Sabah state election.
In a Facebook post, Jordan also announced his resignation as the party’s Nabawan division chief and said he would contest the Tulid state seat as an independent candidate.
"Not a single seat was given to the STAR Sabah Wiramuda Exco. No young people were offered a chance, only long-time party fighters were selected,” he said, adding that he resigned on principle after feeling his role as youth chief had become meaningless.
Jordan said STAR Sabah President Datuk Seri Jeffrey G. Kitingan had earlier confirmed that he would contest the Tulid seat, a decision endorsed by the party’s Political Bureau.
He said he had already paid his nomination deposit and purchased campaign materials before deciding to donate them to party candidates following the change.
"I chose to resign as a form of sacrifice, hoping the president will realise his mistake and not repeat it with the next generation. Let it happen to me, but not to those who come after,” he said.
Jordan added that even the Youth Exco Deputy Chief, Razidin Robert, was twice announced as a candidate for Bingkor but later dropped.
"If the president can publicly name us as candidates and then ‘prank’ us, what about the grassroots members?” he said.
Jeffrey announced that STAR Sabah would contest 40 of the 73 seats in the state election, naming Datuk Baritus Gungkit @ Evaristus for Tulid and Mohd Ishak Ayun for Bingkor.
The Election Commission has set Nov 15 for nomination, Nov 25 for early voting and Nov 29 for polling. - BERNAMA