KNIVES BEING SHARPENED IN UMNO: Who are the targets, who are the ASSASSINS - Kit Siang

Yesterday, I titled my blog piece “The Empire strikes back – the plot for a putsch by reactionary anti-democratic forces thickens with the call for a return of Dr M to Putrajaya”.

The online Star today carried an interesting item which is not unrelated to the tale of “The Empire strikes back”.

The online Star report by Martin Carvalho titled “Hasan Malek denies again rumours of resignation” states:

KUALA LUMPUR: Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hasan Malek denied recent talk of his resignation, saying that he was not bothered about such rumours.

"There is no need for me to answer the question as the issue does not arise at all.

"For me, what is important is that I am here to discharge my duty and responsibility to the rakyat and will continue to do so sincerely and in the best of my abilities," he told reporters after a walkabout at the Pudu Urban Transformation Centre on Monday.

Earlier, before the press conference, members of the media were requested by ministry officials to refrain from asking on the rumours and to confine their questions to ministerial issues.

Last Friday, the ministry issued a media statement denying rumours of Hasan's resignation which were circulating among bloggers and Facebook users on Thursday.

Is this story about Hasan Malek related to “The Empire Strikes Back”?

Definitely yes. Knives are being sharpened for the Night of Long Knives in the conspiracy by Umno reactionaries/anti-democratic forces to remove obstacles in the way of their putsch and Hasan is one such target from the Najib Cabinet.

Recently, UMNO’s own cybertroopers have reached a new ferocity turning their attacks on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak who have become the target of attacks and butt of jokes of UMNO cybertroopers, some even comparing Najib unfavourably with his predecessor, Tun Abdullah.

Although these attacks by the UMNO cybertroopers have yet to reach for Najib’s jugular, confined for the moment to Najib’s army of highly-paid consultants and his ministerial and political appointees like Hasan Malek, it seems only a matter of time before these attacks jell into an unified and central demand for Najib’s resignation and his replacement.

Who is orchestrating the plot and conspiracy of “The Empire Strikes Back”?

Lim Kit Siang is the DAP adviser