Under the PBS, Sabah's new chief minister was Joseph P. Kitingan--Jeffrey Kitingan's brother. Kitingan himself became director of Sabah's Institute for Development Studies and director of the Sabah Foundation, responsible for investing Sabahan timber earnings and developing natural resources.

Timber production is the dominant industry in Sabah. The chief minister has traditionally allocated timber concessions, using his position to accumulate money and power. In addition, Sabah is rich in oil and mineral resource.

The Kitingans were at the forefront of those demanding more equality for Sabah in the form of redistribution of revenue from Sabahan resources, such as changing Sabah's off-shore oil drilling profit share from five percent to 50 percent.

The KL government, headed by Prime Minister Sari Mahathir, saw Sabahan requests for more autonomy as a threat. Tensions between the local Sabahan government and the KL government escalated as the KL government began to pressure the Kitingans, major players in the PBS.

In early 1990, Jeffrey Kitingan was arrested on charges of corruption. Despite the charges, Kitingan held on to his positions and witnessed his party's reelection in July 1990 on a platform of greater Sabahan autonomy.

Following the elections, the PBS withdrew from the National Front in October 1990, joining the opposition. The KL government responded by vowing to introduce competing Muslim Malay parties in Sabah.

Then, at the beginning of 1991, the KL government arrested Joseph Kitingan on charges of corruption. Several months later, Jeffrey Kitingan was arrested again, this time with six others said for plotting to separate Sabah from the Malaysian federation. Joseph Kitingan's status is at present unknown.

Since then, Jeffrey Kitingan has been in jail. He calls the multiple charges "political persecution," according to Far East Economic Review.

The Role of Religion

Observers say they are unclear how large a role religion plays in tensions between Sabah and pennisular Malaysia but say it is a factor. Although the mainland has a strong Muslim population and government, most Sabahans are non-Muslim. The PBS is dominated by the Christian Kadazans, and the Kitingans are both Roman Catholic.

Ambassador Leonard S. Unger '39 says he feels that, "The government in Kuala Lumpur...took measures to prevent local Christian officials from exercising authority...and did everything [it could] to discredit them. If there was to be a Christian government, they wanted to keep it under their thumbs."

An anonymous source, who is an expert on South East Asian politics, says the Malay government is becoming more fundamentalist. "There is a group of hunters and gatherers on the Malay peninsula, the Orangasli, that have their own religion. I've heard that officials have said, 'Once they become Muslim, our work is done,'" he says.

"Malaysia's a Muslim country and is growing more fundamentalist," says Charles H. Abelmann, a friend of the Kitingans. "The federal government doesn't like having a Christian state in a Muslim government."

Kitingan's 1991 arrest was under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows the government's security officials to arrest anyone posing a security threat without a warrant, according to Asia Watch.

"Those arrested can be detained for 60 days without charge or review, and the Minister of Home Affairs has the authority to extend the detention orders for up to two years, renewable indefinitely," said Asia Watch in a 1991 article on Malaysia detainees.