Post by : Meena Ariff

Photo: Wikipedia

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan has said that the videos showing him linked to an alleged mining scandal are part of a plan by “hidden hands” to weaken and break the local ruling coalition.

Jeffrey, who is also the president of Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku, said he has done nothing wrong. He questioned why these videos are coming out now and who is behind them. The scandal has already led to charges against two state assemblymen accused of taking bribes for mining licences.

“We can see there is a hidden hand planning all this behind the scenes,” he said.

When reporters asked him if he knew who made or leaked the videos, Jeffrey said he did not know. “Your guess is as good as mine. Some people want to destroy the government and take over. This is not something new. It has been happening for 10 years. The same game is being played again. I am no longer surprised,” he said.

Jeffrey, who is also the Keningau MP and Tambunan assemblyman, described the scandal as a targeted political trap. He said the videos were released one after another, maybe to punish him and his party “when we don’t bow to them or whatever”.

“I don’t know who took the footage, but it all looks pre-planned to bring us down. It’s like an entrapment,” he said.

He said his party will lodge a police report and then decide what to do next.

When asked about Albert Tei, the businessman at the centre of the scandal who was charged in court for offering bribes to two assemblymen, Jeffrey admitted that he had met Tei.

“We have met before. That’s how we came to know him — when he was meeting businessmen. Looking at the date of the meeting, I think it was during a parliamentary pre-council meeting in Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

Jeffrey also said he had met with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) when investigations first started but has not heard from them since the new videos came out last Saturday.

“We went to the MACC office and gave our explanation. After that, we did not hear from them. So we thought it had nothing to do with us — until suddenly these new videos came out. We were shocked,” he said.

On Sunday, Jeffrey denied claims that he received RM1.78 million linked to the mining scandal in Sabah. He said his party has never applied for any mining licence or been involved in mining work.

He said the accusations are baseless and were made by his critics to attack him and his party.

The series of videos has so far implicated around 15 state assemblymen, including top Cabinet ministers and a State Assembly speaker.

Jeffrey said his party will not let public gossip or speculation push them into making political decisions.

“If anything, this has only made our political strategy stronger,” he said.