Shahrizat goes after Rafidah for criticising Utusan

Wanita UMNO chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil has trained her guns on her predecessor Rafidah Aziz following criticism by a senior executive in long-haul budget airline AirAsia X which she currently chairs.

Shahrizat is incensed that the company's chief executive officer Azran Osman Rani had expressed his opinion on UMNO mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia over the paper's racially charged articles following BN's worst ever electoral performance in the recent general election.

Utusan Malaysia has recently attracted condemnations from various quarters for turning UMNO's dwindling support into a racial issue by its attacks on Chinese voters.

Shahrizat, who was also condemned last year after she raised the spectre of race riots if UMNO lost in elections, demanded Rafidah to explain Azran's criticism of the UMNO paper in her capacity as AirAsia X's chairperson.

"I hope she understands Utusan Malaysia's struggle as the only official organ of the Malays," said the former Women, Family and Community Development minister who was forced to resign following the so-called 'cow-gate' scandal involving her family. UMNO ally Perkasa headed by Ibrahim Ali had strongly defended Shahrizat and her husband during the National Feedlot Corporation scandal episode.

Shahrizat further wanted Rafidah to "come forward" and not to remain silent in the face of demands from "Malay NGOs and other parties".

Azran had among others rapped Utusan Malaysia for its racially-charged coverage, and slammed Perkasa as narrow minded.

Harakahdaily