DAP tells Najib to step down if he can't control Utusan

Penang DAP has challenged Prime Minister Najib Razak to step down if he cannot control Umno-owned newspaper Utusan, which created an uproar over the weekend by accusing DAP and Christians leaders of plotting to topple the King and replacing Islam with Christianity as the country's official religion.

"UMNO owns Utusan Malaysia and Najib acts like he can’t control it. If the owner or leader of a company can’t control the company, he or she should step down immediately as this is a non-functioning leader," Komtar assemblyman Ng Wei Aik said in a statement out on Monday.

"PERKASA has many UMNO members and its patron, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed is UMNO member No. 000 0001. Why then can UMNO say PERKASA is not linked to UMNO? PERKASA also calls for the populace to vote for Barisan Nasional, How then is PERKASA still not linked to UMNO?"

Shielding Utusan

In a late night report by the national news agency, Najib had urged all quarters to calm down and stop exploiting religion for political purposes.

“Calm down until we find out the facts. It is not going to be of benefit to anyone. Whoever it is, whether they are opposition or pro-government, they cannot and should not exploit this issue,” he had said.

His comments follow hot on the heels of remarks by former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who had quickly blamed Najib's "weak" government for not being able to control the situation in the country.

But Mahathir's critics pointed out that that the 85-year old was also the inspiration behind many of the nasty outbreaks of bigotry that have further divided the ethnic groups and also deterred foreign investment into the country.

In fact, many had suspected his hand in the latest onslaught against Christians in the country, where the Umno-owned Utusan newspaper had quoted two blogs accusing the DAP of plotting to replace Islam as the official religion with Christianity. One of the blogs is well-known to be closely aligned to him.

DAP's Ng also slammed Najib and other Umno leaders for trying to shield Utusan.

"Once again, no matter how much Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak tries to deny it, by being UMNO president, he is the “owner” of Utusan Malaysia and he must take the blame and responsibility for the irresponsible reporting that can be considered downright evil.

"They then deny that UMNO is involved just the British Crown used to deny the plundering done by the British East India Company. Now matter how much they deny, UMNO, PERKASA and Utusan Malaysia are one! Just look at the mechanics."

Holding BN responsible

Meanwhile, Penang Chief Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng ticked off an "Umno-inspired" demonstation against him in his Bagan constituency. The protestors had railed against a toll-free alternative road from Jalan Bagan 29 to Jalan Siram.

"UMNO has every right to oppose a toll-free alternative road from Jalan Bagan 29-Jalan Siram that cost much less than the estimated cost of RM 5 million. Through the Penang PR government’s famed open tender system, the cost was brought down to RM 3.3 million," said Guan Eng.

"The contractor who won the project was a Malay contractor who brought down the cost further by another RM800,000 to RM2.5 million through close monitoring by the Penang State EXCO member YB Lim Hock Seng."

The combative Lim also warned the BN government they would be held responsible for any untoward incidents against the Christians after they had fuelled the Muslim community's hatred for Christians.

"It is utterly irresponsible of UMNO to play with fire by spreading such lies through their newspaper Utusan Malaysia just to win Malay support at any cost. Many Christian leaders have expressed utter dismay at these provocative lies and denied vehemently that there are groups of Christian pastors working with DAP to create a Christian state and Prime Minister," said Guan Eng.

"By failing to stop the UMNO-owned Utusan Malaysia from continuing this hate campaign of lies, the BN government is inciting hate against the minority Christian community. DAP express grave concern that this hate campaign against Christians by Utusan Malaysia may not just stop at verbal attacks. The BN government has to bear full responsibility for any undesirable consequences on the Christian community in Malaysia based on Utusan hate campaign of lies."

- Malaysia Chronicle