Utusan, Pua war of words continues

Umno mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia has once again trained its guns on Tony Pua (pic) after the DAP publicity chief's Facebook posting in which he described the Registrar of Societies (RoS) and Utusan Malaysia as running dogs of Umno.

Pua posted the remarks on the night of his party’s September 29 special congress, where all the central executive committee (CEC) members were re-elected without any change. The DAP was instructed by RoS to hold the fresh election after allegations of vote manipulation at the December party polls.

Utusan has been leading the charge against DAP demanding the party hold fresh elections after some party members complained to the RoS about irregularities in the party election last year.

Awang Selamat, the moniker for the collective voice of the paper’s editors, said he did not know what was Pua’s problem.

“Once again he has shown his true colours when he called the RoS and Utusan Malaysia as Umno’s dogs.

“I don’t know what is Tony Pua’s problem. Is he always disturbed by dreams of animals during his sleep, lacks in affection, has a twisted mind or lacks in good values?

“It is proven that Tony Pua does not have the confidence to make an orderly argument,” said Awang Selamat in the paper’s weekend edition Mingguan Malaysia.

Awang said that he "does not need to stoop so low to becoming like Pua in using harsh words".

The columnist said that Pua has to first understand that in the issue of ROS reprimanding the party over its CEC election, the call for fresh party polls was due to allegations of vote manipulation by DAP members themselves.

The columnist added that not all Malaysians can be blindfolded to the extent of not being able to see manipulation.

"Pua's strategy to blame ROS and media like Utusan for the weakness of his own party will not cover up the truth," he went on.

Awang said the recently concluded CEC election also has its own issues "as being spoken about by the party members".

"As someone who pictures himself as a smart person, and based on his publicity chief title, Pua must explain the fiasco in the election in a smart and convincing manner," the column said.

The columnist also challenged DAP to prove itself as a political party having class and integrity and not through "extreme actions" which humiliate Pua and the party.

"His rough words are like the disgusting graffiti on the wall of a public toilet, reflecting the scribbler as one of low morals."

Pua has had a history of run-ins with Utusan Malaysia and had in the past complained that the paper had distorted his statements.

On September 29, Pua wrote on his Facebook that the RoS and Utusan were Umno’s running dogs. In the first posting at 8.56pm, Pua stated: “I’d like to congratulate the wisdom and maturity of DAP national delegates for voting in the same 20 Central Executive Members proving that there was no element of wrongdoing in the last election. The Registrar of Societies can go **** himself.”

In the second posting at 9.41pm, Pua wrote: “The newly re-elected DAP Central Executive Committee has had its very first meeting to co-opt the exact same 10 members as previously co-opted in the previous election.

“The CEC has also unanimously elected the exact same office-bearers led by national chairman Karpal Singh and secretary-general Lim Guan Eng. Umno and its dogs, Utusan and ROS can go...!”