Get new advisors, Kit Siang tells Ghani

Lim Kit Siang also says Perkasa was BN's new coalition member and that Zulkifli Noordin and Ibrahim Ali's nominations had Dr Mahathir's endorsement.

KUCHING: DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang has vehemently denied painting Johor caretaker Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman as a Malay chauvinist and advised his “old friend” to get new advisors.

“My public speeches are on record whether in Gelang Patah or elsewhere, I have never said that.

“I too feel very sad that Ghani had been misled in making such baseless statement, and I hope that he would not allow himself to be misled by his advisers as this would not be good for his reputation as a classic Malay gentleman.

“I never painted Ghani as a Malay chauvinist. I clearly stated that he is a classic Malay gentleman. A classic Malay gentleman cannot be a chauvinist.

“A Malay chauvinist cannot become a classic Malay gentleman,” he said, pointing out that a classic Malay gentleman is very rational, level headed and moderate.

Kit Siang and Ghani are in a face-off for the Gelang patah parliamentary seat in the 13th general election.

Ghani had reportedly told reporters in Johor that Kit Siang had tried to make him out to be a chauvinist.

Said Ghani: “The Johoreans know me. I have been here the past 18 years as Menteri Besar and the Chinese community here knows that I always engaged them.

“I worked with them directly on community issues as well as on education, culture and welfare. It is cruel for them to label me as such.”

Ghani had also reportedly said that he was “sad” at the label against him, adding that “since Lim Kit Siang came here to contest the Gelang Patah, he has been provoking the Chinese.”

Ghani’s statement ‘baseless’

Kit Siang said he was equally saddened by Ghani’s “baseless” statement against him.

“Ghani made the statements as if the statements came from Ibrahim Ali, president of Perkasa and Zulkifli Noordin, deputy president of Perkasa, the two who are very extremist and very destructive politicians in this country.

“I know Ghani was misled by his advisors for making the statements. I advise my old friend to get a new set of advisors,” he said.

He also denied that his candidacy in Gelang Patah was aimed at causing racial polarisation.

“What we want to do is for the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans and Kadazans to unite as Malaysians so that we can have a new politics to make Malaysia great.

“There is no basis whatsoever that I am contesting in Gelang Patah to cause racial polarisation among the Chinese and Malays.

“Only Dr Mahathir Mohamad (former prime minister) had said that I went to Johor to create racial confrontation to get the Chinese fix the Malays.

“What we want to do is to create a more prosperous and more just Malaysian nation,” he said.

Perkasa is ‘new’ BN member

On deputy Umno president Muhyiddin Yassin’s remark that he should be ‘buried’ in Gelang Patah, Kit Siang said: “That is of course on the order from Mahathir as it was Mahathir (first) who had called on the people of Johor to ‘bury’ me.

“It shows very clearly that in Umno the power is Mahathir. The real power is not Umno not even Najib Tun Razak (Umno president), but Mahathir.”

He said the fielding Zulkifli as Umno candidate in Shah Alam and the trick played out by Umno and Ibrahim in Pasir Mas clearly showed Mahathir’s hand in these nominations.

“Today he (Umno candidate Che Johan Che Pa) is being regarded as a hero for giving way to Perkasa president (Ibrahim) (in Pasir Mas).

“It is Mahathir who is behind these nominations as he said (before) that the country needs more ‘Ibrahim Alis’ to save Malaysia and the Malays,” Lim added.

He said Perkasa may not be a political party but it is now obvious that BN had a “new member” which is more powerful than the other BN member parties, and it may be more powerful than Umno itself.