Kurup decides to stay out

Kota Kinabalu: PBRS President Tan Sri Joseph Kurup (pic) is calling it a day after 33 years in politics. Contrary to speculation, he will not be participating in the May 9 General Election.

When contacted, Kurup did not deny nor confirm, saying: "You can speculate that I am calling it a day.

I don't want to spoil the excitement.

"We should give chance to young people with experience in accordance with TN50 (Transformasi Nasional 2050) mooted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak so that our young leaders can excel not only in district, state or national level but also in the international arena."

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Kurup, 74, also incumbent Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, is expected to pass the duty of defending his Pensiangan parliament seat to son, Arthur Kurup.

According to BN sources, the party's incumbent Assemblyman for Sook, Datuk Ellron Alfred Angin, will get to defend his state seat.

PBRS, given only one parliamentary seat and one state seat under the BN quota, recently saw much lobbying with one camp on Kurup and Arthur's side while the other on Ellron's.

It was earlier speculated that Arthur would stand in Pensiangan and Ellron dropped to make way for Kurup to stand in Sook as a father-son team.

However, following discussions with the BN leadership, Kurup decided to give way to ensure Barisan Nasional retain both seats.

Kurup started his political career in 1985 when he joined PBS as a member. In the 1985 election, he won Sook and served nine years in the PBS government.

In 1994, following the downfall of the PBS government, Kurup set up Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah and was admitted as a BN component party and subsequently made Deputy Chief Minister.

In 1999, Kurup was defeated in the parliamentary seat of Keningau as well as the state seat of Bingkor.

He won the Sook seat in 2004 and in the 2008 election, he won the Pensiangan seat unopposed after the PKR candidate did not submit his nomination on time in an incident mired in controversy.

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The decision saw Kurup being roughed up at the nomination centre. The candidate took Kurup to court and won but the decision was overturned in the higher court.

He was appointed Deputy Minister for Rural and Regional Development under Prime Minister Datuk (now Tun) Abdullah Badawi. Kurup was made Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Environment when Najib became Prime Minister in 2009. After defending his seat in the 2013 election, Kurup was promoted to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department. - Alex Ong

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