Did Johor MB consent to pre-planned attack on Kit Siang?

Umno Pasir Gudang is now gripped by fear of losing both the parliamentary seat and Khaled Nordin’s seat of Permas.

COMMENT

By Liew Chin Tong

Did desperation over the possibility of losing his own state seat of Permas drive Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin to approve, whether implicitly or explicitly, the pre-planned attack on DAP’s Forum Kedai Kopi in Masai, Pasir Gudang?

It has now been confirmed with photo evidence that the mob which attacked DAP Parliamentary Leader Lim Kit Siang and other leaders on Sunday, July 5 was led by Umno Pasir Gudang Youth Chief Azman Ja’afar.

Azman Ja’afar is also Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru Councillor and National Council Member of the right-wing group Pekida.

When asked by the media on July 6, Khaled Nordin refused to take responsibility for the incident. He claimed he was in Kuala Lumpur when the incident happened.

Khaled also said that DAP should have foreseen what would happen as the event was publicised over social media. Further, he said, Pasir Gudang has been the stronghold of Umno with 21,000 members who are not robots and whose personal actions should be attributed to Umno.

I expected a more statesman-like approach by Khaled towards the incident but Khaled instead chose to defend the indefensible by blaming the organiser for organising the event in Pasir Gudang and broadcasting the event on social media.

Khaled must answer whether he had, explicitly or implicitly, consented to the acts of hooliganism led by Azman Ja’afar and whether the planned attack was agreed upon by Khaled to prevent the DAP and its allies from conducting events in Permas as Khaled fears he will be defeated in the coming election.

On the morning of July 5, DAP Johor received the following WhatsApp message urging people to prevent Kit Siang from attending the event, which we forwarded to police for further action:

“Assalamualaikum WBT

Panggilan Jihad mempertahankan Islam dan kedudukan org Melayu. Spt mna yg kita maklum komunis LKS dari DAP akan dtg ke kawasan kita. Maka diminta semua utk berkumpul bagi menghalangnya dari masuk ke kawasan kita bagi menawan Permas pada PRU 14 nanti. LKS berdendam utk mengaib dgn menewaskan YAB MB dlm PRU 14 nanti. Oleh itu tuan2 bersama dgn seberapa ramai pengikut utk berkumpul dan menghalang rombongan LKS dari masuk ke kaw kita…..

TARIKH: 5/7/2015
Tempat berkumpul: Masjid Hjh Maznah Tmn Megah Ria@bersebelahan bilik gerakan UMNO Tmn. Megah Ria. Jalan Bayan 45 Tmn Megah Ria 81750 Masai
Masa: 1230 ptg

Tema pakaian: merah

#Tanah Pasir Gudang bukan untuk dijejaki Pengkhianat!! Allahuakbar!!!”

The fear of losing Permas to Kit Siang is nonsensical. However I can confirm that Khaled’s fear of losing Permas is real.

Umno nearly lost Khaled’s former parliamentary seat of Pasir Gudang to Parti Keadilan Rakyat in the 2013 general election. Umno’s candidate Normala Abdul Samad won with a mere margin of 1.1 percent, which was the third most dangerous seat nationally for Barisan Nasional after Bentong (0.7%) and Kuala Selangor (0.8%).

Permas was a BN marginal seat but Khaled managed to win with a comfortable majority (23,952 vs 18,200) in 2013 as he was then touted as the Menteri Besar-to-be. He is fully aware that Umno’s position is now weakened by the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and various scandals that unfolded recently.

The seat of Pasir Gudang has approximately four per cent of Dayak voters originating from Sarawak while the seat of Permas has also approximately four per cent of voters of Dayak origin. They were previously the vote bank of Khaled Nordin which is no longer the case.

This explains why the DAP Forum Kedai Kopi featuring famous sons of Sarawak Mordi Anak Bimol and Thomas Sixtus Tegong Laka to meet Dayak voters in Permas by DAP had to be prevented at all cost.

Umno Pasir Gudang is now gripped by fear of losing both the parliamentary seat and Khaled’s seat of Permas.

Before further losing credibility, Khaled better come clean on whether he had approved, explicitly or implicitly, the pre-planned attack on Kit Siang and the DAP by Pasir Gudang Youth Chief Azman Ja’afar.

One way for Khaled to distance himself from Azman is to order Azman to go on leave from his position as Umno Pasir Gudang Youth Chief and Councillor of Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru. Failing which Khaled is condoning Azman’s hooliganism and we can probably assume Khaled is somehow party to the pre-planned attack.

Liew Chin Tong is DAP National Political Education Director and MP for Kluang.