Sabah PKR rebel division chiefs, 16 in all, are said to be behind an application lodged at noon yesterday in Kota Kinabalu at the Registrar of Societies (ROS) to form a new political party.

Parti Cinta Sabah or Love Sabah Party is said to be a name, albeit a catchy one, for initial registration purposes only.

Registrar of Societies' Mathew Anak Barin confirmed that an application was filed yesterday to register Parti Cinta Sabah.

He declined to mention the names in the pro-tem line-up "since the people involved may not be too happy with any public disclosure".

"It will take at least four months before the party can be registered, assuming everything is in order," said Mathew. "From our experience, such applications are seldom complete.

"If we need any additional information, we will give the applicants 30 days to furnish them, failing which the application will be rejected."

Any application to register a political party will be forwarded to the Special Branch with a copy to the registrar's head office in Putrajaya. Final approval rests with the Home Minister.

Former Sabah PKR secretary Kanul Gindol said that the application was filed in several bundles by Daniel John Jambun, a former party state deputy chief.

NONE Jambun is a close confidante of Sabah PKR Keningau division chief Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan ( left ) who has since resigned as party vice-president.

Kanul said: "I can't tell you who is in the pro-tem line-up. I can, however, confirm that Jeffrey is not in the line-up. Once the party is registered it will be offered to him."

Kanul, a former political secretary to Jeffrey, added that the latter was in Putrajaya today to meet with Home Minister Hishammudin Hussein Onn.

"It must be about the new political party, what else?" said Kanul, seemingly in contradiction to his earlier statement that Jeffrey's name was not in the pro-tem line-up.

It was reliably learnt from a senior NGO leader, who requested anonymity that Daniel was also with Jeffrey for a meeting in Putrajaya.

According to him, besides Kanul, senior PKR activist from Tambunan, Moses Iking, also accompanied Daniel to the ROS and is in the pro-tem line-up with him (Daniel) and Kanul.

Sabah PKR proposals for reforms accepted

The senior NGO leader confirmed that he himself is not in the pro-tem line-up, "but you can say that several NGOs are backing the new party," he said.

The leader who is closely aligned with Jeffrey will be meeting him in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday enroute to Copenhagen for a climate change conference.

"The name of the party doesn't matter. It can be changed later. The most important thing is to register first. We (the NGOs) also advised Jeffrey that Sabah and Sarawak should work together.

"He's on the right track with his emphasis on autonomy, Sabah rights, the 20 points and the Malaysia Agreement. This is something that concerns both Sabah and Sarawak," he said.

NONE Kota Kinabalu division chief Christina Liew ( right ) did not mention a new party during a lengthy telephone conversation last night.

She merely mentioned an email from PKR director of strategies Tian Chua to Jeffrey last week with copies to her, party president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and her husband and party advisor Anwar Ibrahim.

Likewise, Jeffrey did not mention the new party during a telephone conversation on Wednesday but disclosed that he would be going to Kuala Lumpur for several days.

Both Jeffrey and Liew confirmed that the PKR headquarters had accepted their Sabah PKR proposals for change and reform that was handed to a peace team from Kuala Lumpur.

The team was headed by Tian Chua and Sarawak PKR advisor Michael Bong.

The party headquarters, in the email, rejected the resignations of Jeffrey and Liew from the national political bureau and the former giving up the post of party vice-president.

It also rejected the proposed new state line-up filed for its approval by controversial state chief Ahmad Thamrin Jaini. Jeffrey and Liew, it is learnt, were dropped from Thamrin's line-up.

Elsewhere, the mail confirmed that Sabah and Sarawak would be autonomous from the headquarters "and this would be reflected in the forthcoming constitutional changes".

It is not known whether Parti Cinta Sabah is part of these PKR moves towards autonomy in Malaysian Borneo.

The party headquarters is also toying with the idea of setting up a joint political bureau to cover both Sabah and Sarawak to be headed by Jeffrey.

Both Jeffrey and Liew were also asked to propose the exact wording of the clauses in the party constitution that should be changed.

The headquarters offered to place senior PKR leader Sivarasa at the disposal of the duo to help chart the changes to the party constitution.