Embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak's government came in for a tongue-lashing for the confusion shrouding the Malaysian army's raid into a coastal village in Sabah, where 10 armed intruders from the Philippines and 2 Malaysian police commandos have reportedly been killed.
"Where is the Defense Minister in all this, why is Hishammuddin raising more questions than answers," Najwan Halimi, the political secretary to Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, told Malaysia Chronicle.
A standoff in the Lahad Datu village, where more than 100 Filipinos claiming to be members of the Royal Army of the Sulu Sultanate have been holed up for more than 2 weeks, sudden erupted into violence this morning.
Abraham Idjirani, a spokesman for the Sulu group, told reporters in Manila that 10 members had been killed and four wounded when Malaysian police raided their camp.
However, Malaysian Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein denied that the police had fired first. His statement left Malaysians wondering if the raid happened at all or not.
"I can confirm that our security forces did not fire them but it was the intruders that opened fire first at 10am," Hisham, who is Najib's cousin, said on his Twitter.
Confusion and weak leadership
Since then the national news agency Bernama has reported that two police commando were killed by an exploding mortar bomb at the village, which had been turned into a fortress by the intruders. The cops had been patrolling the posts around the village.
According to Bernama, the bodies of the two men have been retrieved and put into a police truck. It is learnt that the bodies would be flown to Lahad Datu Hospital.
Until now, some 6 hours after news of the violence broke out, there is no official clarification from the Malaysian authorities as to what happened.
"This is a cause for grave concern. Against such inept leadership, we fear the lives of the 2 police personnel were lost unnecessarily. This is the price of the stupidity of the ministers involved and a lack of leadership at a time when it is most needed," said Najwan.
Political conspiracies
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Zahid Hamidi responded to the growing criticism on Twitter, saying the Cabinet had decided that only the Home Minister and the Inspector General of Police would issue the statements on behalf of the government.
"It's not that I don't care about what is happening in Lahad Datu but the Cabinet has decided that only the Home Minister and Inspector-General of Police should issue the statements," Zahid said on his Twitter.
His comment bolstered the growing views of a conspiracy by the Najib administration to use the Sabah standoff as a tactic to rally sympathy votes for the coming general election.
"The question is why now. The Home Ministry and the Defense Ministry need to answer why was it so easy for the intruders to land on Malaysian shores. We have two Scorpene submarines, why couldn't we track these armed intruders. Why did we allow them to stay for 2 weeks before doing anything," said Najwan.
"Political conspiracies come in many forms, sometimes to the extent of sacrificing the lives of our own citizens, all for the sake of holding onto power."
The brother of the Sultan of Sulu has been reported as saying the group had been surrounded by Malaysian police, who have warned in recent days that a deadline for them to leave had passed.
“They are here, they entered our area so we have to defend ourselves. There’s shooting already. We’re surrounded. We will defend ourselves,” Agbimuddin Kiram told the radio station.
MORE TO COME
Malaysia Chronicle
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