You’re a weak leader, Anwar mocks Liow

The PKR supremo says the MCA president is a weak and cowardly leader for not being able to stand up to Umno.

KAJANG: MCA president Liow Ting Lai is a weak and cowardly leader for not being able to stand up to Umno, said PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim.

“The MCA president is so afraid of Umno. Even on Ops Lalang, he doesn’t dare to ask (former prime minister) Dr Mahathir Mohamad (for explanation).

“Liow has no credibility at all. He is a weak president,” said Anwar after a hi-tea session at the residence of Penanti state assemblyperson Dr Norlela Ariffin, at Sungai Kantan here yesterday evening.

Last week, Liow had accused Anwar of being responsible for the infamous Ops Lalang in 1987 which led to the detention of over 100 people under the now defunct Internal Security Act (ISA). Several MCA top leaders were also targeted then for police questioning for allegedly playing up racial issues.

Anwar, then the former deputy prime minister, was alleged to have done so by appointing non-Mandarin speaking headmasters to helm the Chinese vernacular schools back then.

In his speech at the hi-tea session, Anwar denied any involvement in Ops Lalang and claimed that the event was triggered by a feud between the then Umno youth chief Najib Tun Razak and then MCA deputy president Lee Kim Sai.

He also said that Ops Lalang was the brainchild of Mahathir himself.

The hi-tea session is part of Anwar’s campaign to woo voters in his bid for the Kajang by-election scheduled on March 23.

His attack on MCA and Liow is also seen as part of his campaign to put the BN party in the back foot as MCA is expected to challenge Anwar for the state seat. MCA’s vice president Chew Mei Fun is hotly tipped to be named as the BN candidate.

The Kajang state seat fell vacant following the resignation of incumbent assemblymen Lee Chin Cheh of PKR on Jan 27. The Election Commission fixed March 23 as polling date and nomination day on March 11. Advanced voting would be held on March 19.

The state seat has 38,965 registered voters. In the last general election, the seat saw a voter turnout of 87.9% ,with 541 spoilt votes.