With his party boasting 200,000 members, he believes Star will be able to get sizeable votes in the coming general election.
He said the party could also possibly add a few more seats in the polls expected by August next year.
“These past four-and-half years, I have done my best not only to serve the people in my constituency but also the people of Sabah as a whole,” he said.
“It is understandable that as an opposition member, I don’t have special allocations and everything will have to come from my own pocket.
“But I still managed to get what my people needed, including development projects. All these were thanks to my hard work, persuading the relevant authorities to spend money on Bingkor,” he told FMT.
In the last election in May 2013, Jeffrey won the Bingkor seat by garnering 5,350 votes against Barisan Nasional’s (BN) 4,894 and PKR’s 2,368.
In July last year, he formed Star from the Sabah chapter of the Sarawak-based State Reform Party, after the latter decided to rebrand its name to Sarawak Reform Party.
Jeffrey was detained without trial under the now-repealed Internal Security Act (ISA) from 1991 to 1994 for his outspoken views on Sabah’s rights.
The first-term assemblyman, who is president of the Borneo Dayak Forum, an NGO, also said it was normal for people to expect some personal assistance from him and have a personal relationship with him.
He said constituents would often ask him for monetary assistance, especially for funerals and natural disasters.
“The fact that people are asking for monetary help shows that our people are economically deprived,” he said.
The 69-year-old advocate for Sabah’s autonomy also said he would concentrate on Bingkor and not run in the Keningau parliamentary seat where he had unsuccessfully contested before.
He said someone else from Star would contest in Keningau in GE13.
“We have many good leaders in the party and we will give a good fight for the seat,” he said.
In the last election, Jeffrey lost the Keningau race to his brother and former chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan by 3,198 votes.
Pairin is rumoured to be ready to give up the Keningau seat as well as the Tambunan state seat he has held since 1976.
DAP, PH taken to task
Jeffrey also said Star had more than 200,000 registered members and supporters, mostly in the interior.
“Previously, we were restricted in terms of resources and financial capabilities. But now we are confident we will do better,” he said.
Jeffrey also criticised DAP, which is a member of Pakatan Harapan (PH), which recently announced its intention to run in Bingkor.
He said he skipped the launch of PH’s manifesto for the Sabah interior in Keningau earlier as he found it disturbing that PH decided to do it at its Christmas open house.
“I found it disrespectful because they politicised Christmas. When you invite people to a Christmas open house, do not use the stage to talk about politics,” he said.
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