by Maria Begum
Prime Minister Najib Razak is the latest to join the BN
bandwagon attacking Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for allegedly implying
that Johor was not safe. But pundits accused the PM of being
"unpleasant", "uncharitable" and "hypocritical"
and trying to steal the thunder from his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassan.
The 58-year-old Najib had on Friday night accused Guan Eng of
apologizing only because he had no choice.
“We have the recording, which makes it difficult for him to
deny what he did. If he could deny it, he would not have apologised,” Bernama
reported Najib as saying.
His comments raised heckles amongst Pakatan Rakyat
supporters.
"It is very
disappointing, very unpleasant and uncharitable of him to say such things. One
would have expected higher standards from the PM. Maybe he felt inadequate
compared to Muhyiddin, who was the first to fire off at Guan Eng. Now Najib
sees Guan Eng's apology, he wants to cut the glory from Muhyiddin," Eddie
Wong, a PKR veteran told Malaysia Chronicle.
Pakatan leaders also said at least Guan Eng was "big
enough" to apologize, whereas till today, Najib had yet to apologize to
the Malaysian people for ordering the police to fire tear gas and acid water at
the Bersih supporters during their July 9 rally for free and fair elections.
They also said Najib should not try to hide behind his proposal to repeal the
ISA because that would be replaced by two new laws.
Nasty
warlords
Guan Eng was alleged to have made the remarks at a
Correspondents Club of Singapore luncheon last month. A transcript of his
speech, released on the Internet, quoted him as saying: “You don't have to
worry about your safety when you come to Penang. In Johor, if you are a
Singaporean, you are likely to get kidnapped.”
Guan Eng has also said he made the comment during a private
event. While he apologized, he did not admit to making the remark and said he
needed time to check in which context he allegedly made the comment.
"Out of respect to the Johor Sultan, I wish to fully
apologise to the Johor Sultan and his subjects, the people of Johor. I have no
intention whatsoever to discredit Johor or any other state,” Guan Eng told a
press conference on Friday afternoon.
The Sultan had said he felt "hurt" by the comments,
while a group of Umno-linked NGOs had threatened Guan Eng. They warned him to
stay out of Johor. Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also the
Johor Umno chief, had demanded an apology.
Political observers widely believe that the latest Umno-led
attack against Guan Eng was a BN ploy to get the Johore people angry with the
Pakatan Rakyat ahead of snap general elections, widely expected to be called in
November.
"Apart from doing the right thing, it also makes
political sense to apologize and nip in the bud any fallout from the incident.
But to apologize is difficult for the Umno warlords to comprehend and this may
be why they were stumped and Najib responded in such a low culture way,"
said Eddie.
Correlated Story :
Source : MC
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