No excuse for Usno leaders to lead people into riot – Yong

Here, the debate was more lively as Yong contended that it was no excuse for Usno leaders to lead the people into a riot and cause chaos even if it was true that Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) has betrayed a political pact they have agreed on.

Harris disagreed, saying that the consequences of such betrayal could have been much worse and Usno leaders only took part in a peaceful demonstration and not a riot, to keep the angry supporters in check and calm.

"It was a party betrayal and race and religion were involved. This is serious, the people felt cheated. If this happened in other countries, it would have been a different story, both (party leaders) would have been gone," he said.

Harris noted that PBS, in which Yong was then a supreme council member, signed a pact with Usno to oust Berjaya during the 1985 State General Election, with the aim to form a coalition government.

The pact, he said, was signed by Tun Mustapha Datu Harun and Tan Sri Pairin Kitingan, president of Usno and PBS respectively.

However, he said when PBS managed to win 26 seats out of 48, it reneged on the pact and formed the government by it self using the narrow two seats majority, which it could not have won without the backing from USNO.

"I remember very well that after the final result was announced, the late Tun Mustapha sent a representative to ask if the six Berjaya members could support USNO. I also told the six they are free to support Usno or otherwise.

"I was also told that the late Tun Mustapha made so many phone calls to Tan Sri Pairin and he was told that the latter refused to talk to him. It was then the late Tun was convinced that PBS had betrayed him and left him with no alternative.

"He went to the Istana Negeri to claim the Chief Minister ship in order to preserve a multi-racial government. The late Tun then told that if he was appointed, then he could have a bargaining position to negotiate a coalition government with PBS "he recalled.

Harris only raised one issue himself, seeking explanation from Yong on the Amanah Saham Sabah purchase of North Borneo Timber (NBT) shares.

He noted the proposed purchase was negotiated for more than three months, throughout which the NBT shares was hovering around RM5 per unit.

Shortly before the purchase, he said the share price jumped to a record high of RM37.50, causing Amanah to pay an amount between RM200 to 300 million for the shares it bought.

However, after two or three days, the shares came back down to its original price of RM5 and the RM300 million were reduced to RM30 million overnight.

This loss, he added, affected thousands of housewives, mostly Chinese, who lost savings for their children's education.

Yong in his response reiterated that there were there separate components in the NBT shares purchase package, namely the NBT shares itself, a shares swap and an RM50 million cash payment.

He maintained that although NBT shares itself recorded a loss, the overall package was still a profitable deal.

He also reiterated his call for the government to provide a White Paper on the issue and revealed that he was seeking the opportunity to subpoena NBT to release information on the deal.

However, he said this may take some time.