New sultan to press claim on Sabah

From the Manila Times (Oct 27): New sultan to press claim on Sabah

DATU Esmail D. S. Kiram, 72, the new sultan of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo (SSNB), who took over the reins from the late Sultan Jamalul Kiram 3rd, vowed to continue the fight to regain Sabah from Malaysia, according to Abraham Idjirani, secretary general and spokesman of the sultanate.

Idjirani said that the new Moro royal leader will be officially known as Sultan Esmail Kiram 2nd.

Kiram 2nd said that he would continue the family’s struggle for peace and economic development, including the fight to reclaim Sabah through peaceful means.

He said the repossession of Sabah through peaceful means has been his stand since he was young.

“Even from the beginning, during the time of my father as Sabah administrator, Sultan Punjungan Kiram, I was the one tasked to go to Sabah,” he added.

He said that they have to fulfill the last decree of the late Sultan to continue the fight to regain Sabah from the Malaysian government.

In February this year, hundreds of followers of the Sultanate of Sulu sailed to the disputed territory to press its claim led by the sultan’s brother, Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram.

Kiram 2nd said that he accepts the position of sultan wholeheartedly.

Idjirani said there was no hindrance to the younger Kiram’s succeeding his elder brother because it was assured by the sultanate’s “strict adherence to the law and order of succession.”

“Everybody accepts the law and order of succession in the sultanate,” he said.

He added even the crown prince, Rajah Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, had already made known his stand that he will observe the succession’s law and order.

http://manilatimes.net/new-sultan-to-press-claim-on-sabah/48428/