KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) vice president Datuk Herbert T Lagadan said Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan’s appointment as Sabah Foundation director in the early eighties was a ‘damage control’ move by the then Berjaya president, Datuk (now Tan Sri) Harris Salleh.
The Kadamaian assemblyman believed that when Harris appointed Jeffrey to head Sabah Foundation, it was perceived as purely tactical and political maneuvering to cushion the political damage incurred by the then Datuk (now Tan Sri) Joseph Pairin Kitingan on the Berjaya government.
Perhaps Harris at the time was fully convinced that Pairin’s influence would be diluted if he appointed Jeffry as director of Sabah Foundation, Herbert said, adding that at that time most people on the street were talking about Jeffrey’s appointment as a mere marriage of convenience.
Therefore, no one including Jeffrey could deny that his elevation to the pinnacles of Sabah Foundation was purely a “Pairin” factor, he said.
“Even today, if Jeffrey can search his heart and conscience, I am sure he would agree with me that without the Pairin factor he would not be appointed by Harris. It would be even more interesting now to know from Harris himself, why did he appoint Jeffrey as Sabah Foundation director then?” he said.
Herbert pointed out that while it was true that Harris appointed Jeffrey as Sabah Foundation director, logic demands a verdict as to why Harris did that when Pairin was his top political foe.
“It is totally unfair for Jeffrey to reject outright Pairin’s factor in his elevation as public figure as well as his political rise. If not for Pairin’s trust and goodness he wouldn’t be a YB in 1994. Even then, he later chose to abandon Pairin because he perceived PBS as a sinking ship only to re-board the ship in 1997.
“When Pairin chose him as PBS candidate for Bingkor in 1999, he was re-elected as ADUN (assemblyman) but only to betray again his brother’s trust for a second time in lieu of his desperate desire to taste the sweetness of the post of a Chief Minister. He had tried to chase the shadow of the dangling carrot of the Chief Minister’s post. Surely he could still remember his own words. This time I have the numbers,” Herbert stressed.
He also asked if Jeffrey remembered that he had been appointed as senator and a deputy federal minister by the then Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“Does he care to open up the archives of his press statement praising and giving good commendation on Barisan Nasional and Mahathir leadership at the time? Was it a slip of the tongue?
“Yet Pairin had never showed his grudges and anger against Jeffrey despite the latter’s betrayal? Why should Jeffrey feel bitter against Pairin when he (Pairin) made sincere praise for the BN leadership now?
“Why can’t Pairin express his honest opinion on the goodness of PM and CM? I wonder if Jeffrey is capable of betraying his own brother then, is there any guarantee that he wouldn’t betray the people of Sabah?” Herbert asked.