Azmin: It's Dr M who should apologize to Malaysia, not me

PKR's Azmin Ali

KUALA LUMPUR (Harakahdaily) - Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice president Azmin Ali, who received condemnations from Perkasa and supporters of Dr Mahathir Mohamad for calling the latter "a fallen leader", has rejected demands to apologise to the former prime minister.

“Is there a need to apologise to Dr Mahathir? What have I done wrong?” asked Azmin in a Twitter posting.

The Gombak member of parliament, who is running for PKR's deputy president's post, irked UMNO leaders and Perkasa for calling Dr Mahathir as a "fallen leader".

Leading the criticism against Azmin was deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin who said Azmin was inconsiderate at a time when Dr Mahathir was warded in a hospital in Melbourne, Australia, for chest infection.

This was followed by Perkasa's surprise endorsement of another deputy president candidate Mustaffa Kamil Ayub, saying the latter could be more trusted to defend Malay rights than Azmin. Mustaffa has since distanced himself from the right-wing group.

Mahathir should say sorry

An unrepentant Azmin instead demanded Mahathir to apologise to Muslims in Malaysia over the way he treated his former deputy, Anwar Ibrahim.

“The disunity of Muslims and Malays in Malaysia is a result of Dr Mahathir’s vile slander against DSAI (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim).

"When will Mahathir apologise to the Muslims?” asked Azmin.

Azmin also reminded that he was not fighting against an elderly person, but he was "against his cruelty".

On his remark, Azmin said UMNO should look up the real meaning of the word he used, ('tersungkur', or fallen).

“What’s the definition of ‘tersungkur’? Ask help from DBP,” he quipped.