Muhyiddin, Utusan reprising Ops Lalang, warns Kit Siang

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang warned that Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and UMNO newspaper Utusan were trying to destabilise Malaysia to justify an Operations Lalang-type crackdown to prolong UMNO's political hegemony.

Kit Siang, the Ipoh Timur MP, pointed out that Muhyiddin had on Saturday "made the preposterous claim" that Pakatan Rakyat is hiding behind the planned Bersih 2.0 rally with a plot to topple the ruling Barisan Nasional goverment.

Then on Sunday, Utusan warned that Pakatan would use next month's Bersih 2.0 rally to trigger an uprising similar to the popular protests which toppled Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and now threatens governments in Libya, Syria and Yemen.

"There is now the “smoking gun” proof of the conspiracy or complicity of Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and the Umno official organ, Utusan Malaysia, to subvert the 1Malaysia concept and justify an Operations Lalang 2 crackdown on civil liberties with mass ISA arrests to prolong UMNO hegemony," Kit Siang said in a statement.

Pakatan will go through the ballot box, unlike BN

He emphasized that Pakatan and its component parties of PKR, PAS and DAP were fully committed to the democratic process. The coalition would bring about political change and the formation of a new federal government via the ballot box and not by any extra-constitutional or undemocratic means.

"It is UMNO and the UMNO leadership which must demonstrate its full commitment to the democratic process and unquestioned loyalty to the Malaysian constitution by declaring that they will fully accept the verdict of Malaysians through the ballot box – even if it means the end of UMNO hegemony and Barisan Nasional rule with their replacement by a new Pakatan Rakyat federal government comprising PAS DAP and PKR in Putrajaya," said Kit Siang.

In comments made during a Sabah visit, Muhyiddin had alleged that the opposition’s agenda was to create a momentum among the people to hate the government by raising various issues beyond the call for clean and fair elections.

"They are trying to use street demonstrations against the government to achieve their road to Putrajaya,’’ Muhyiddin was reported as saying.

As for Utusan, it had alleged in its Maulana Arrif column that “those who intend to mass in the capital on July 9 to demand electoral reform have lost faith in democracy after realising they cannot win federal power through the ballot box”.

"Peace is no longer important to them. They want only to seize power and install their leader as Malaysia’s prime minister using whatever means possible. The enemies of Islam, both humans and syaitan-syaitan (devils), are working to aid them," said Utusan.

Irresponsible lies

Kit Siang slammed both the DPM and Utusan for their "irresponsible" lies, which could only divide the races in the country further and not unite as proposed under Najib's 1 Malaysia sloagn.

Najib has however made same allegations againt the Pakatan. A successful Bersih 2.0 rally would be a sharp slap in the face for his leadership.

"These allegations are as wild, irresponsible and reckless as the screaming front-page headline by Utusan Malaysia on 7th May 2011 raising the bogey of a DAP plot to create a Christian Malaysia – when there is no iota of evidence whatsoever and there has been no commensurate action against the perpetrators of such seditious and treasonous utterances after more than six weeks!" said Kit Siang.

Operations Lalang occured in 1987, where scores of activists and opposition politicians were arrested under the Internal Security Act, which allow indefinite detention without trial.

- Malaysia Chronicle