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.
Malaysia Chronicle
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