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The Huguan Siou Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Pairin Kitingan in a traditional Kadazan garb.

Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Pairin Kitingan was the sixth Chief Minister of Sabah, an oil and timber rich state in Malaysia. Sabah is also the second largest state (the first being the state of Sarawak)among the thirteen states that form the federation of Malaysia. He held the post from April 1985 to March 1994. He is a Kadazandusun, which is the largest group of Sabah’s many indigenous peoples. These indigenous peoples are categorised as “Bumiputeras” which means son of the soil in Bahasa Malaysia.

He was born on 17 August 1940 at a little town called Papar. He read law at the University of Adelaide, Australia and upon completing his study, he worked as a State Counsel with the Sabah Legal Department and was later made Deputy Public Prosecutor. Subsequently, he practised law privately with a local legal firm.

He joined active politics in 1975 and was elected a Member of the Sabah Legislative Assembly for the Tambunan constituency in 1976 under BERJAYA party’s ticket, a party which was led by Datuk Harris Bin Mohd Salleh (Chief Minister 1976 – 1985). Datuk Pairin has been serving the people of Tambunan to this day(1976 -   ) as there has been no opponents that could sway the voters of Tambunan. It is worth mentioning that on a several occasions, Datuk Pairin had returned as Assemblyman unopposed. He was also a cabinet minister in Datuk Harris' government during the BERJAYA's tenure as state government.

Disillusioned with the party’s leaderships, Datuk Pairin stepped down as a Cabinet Minister and later ran as an independent candidate for the Tambunan Assemblyman seat in which he came out victorious. It was alleged that the Tambunan people were deprived of badly needed development funds as a punishment by the then state government for their choice of Assemblyman. These treatments only solidified the support of the people for Datuk Pairin. Datuk Pairin and the people of Tambunan became the symbol of democracy in Sabah's political landscape then. Poor and yet resolute to stand up for democracy, enduring hardships.

In March 1985, Datuk Pairin formed Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) or United Sabah Party. Despite overwhelming adversities, he managed the get the party registered and recognised officially as a political party in the eleventh hour. This enabled him to lead the party against the incumbent state government in the next State General Election.

Win they did and with clear majority. Datuk Pairin was installed as the sixth Chief Minister of the state of Sabah. He held the post of Sabah Chief Minister from April 1985 to March 1994, during which he spearheaded his party's triumphant outings in four successive State elections (1985, 1986, 1990 and 1994). His nine-year term as Chief Minister ended abruptly on 17 March 1994 when 26 of his Assemblymen turn coat to the Barisan Nasional or National Front, thereby forcing PBS to lose its majority in the Legislative Assembly. One of the first Assemblymen to commit this political betrayal was Datuk Lajim Haji Okin, whose political career would not be possible without the weight of Datuk Pairin moral and political standing.

Datuk Pairin is also the Huguan Siou or paramount leader of the Kadazandusun community and he is also the President of the Kadazandusun Cultural Association(KDCA), the community's principal cultural association.

Political writings on Datuk Pairin have described him variously as "fearless, principled, sincere, humble and resilient". These traits have formed the distinguishing attributes of his inspiring and extremely popular leadership. Datuk Pairin is a Catholic and married to Datin Genevieve Lee, a former teacher. They have two sons, Alexander and Daniel, who are both trained lawyers.

In March 2004, Datuk Pairin was appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Rural Development.