Shahbudin: Najib taking too long to drag Liong Sik to Court

Former MCA Chief is surprised that the Prime Minister was taking so long to drag him to Court for defamation after various threatening statements.

KUALA LUMPUR: Hardly anyone in this world likes to be sued or summoned, especially by a Prime Minister, pointed out a political analyst in his latest blog posting. “Former MCA Chief Ling Liong Sik, it’s clear, can hardly wait to be summoned by Najib. The Prime Minister’s stand has become something of a joke making the rounds.”

“I am surprised that he’s taking so long to summon me but I will be patient,” Shahbudin Husin quoted Ling as saying. ”Ling probably is impatient to be sued.”

“Ling has proven himself to be roti canai bertelor (bread with egg) while Najib appears to be still a roti kosong (bread with nothing).”

Shahbudin was taking the cue from Mersing MP Abdul Latif Ahmad praising Najib as ‘roti canai bertelor” for his so-called bravery in implementing the consumption tax, GST, at a time when the world economy was going through an uncertain period and the people were suffering. “Latif said that even former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and sacked Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, both of whom were once Finance Ministers, the former after the latter, were not that brave as roti canai bertelor Najib to implement GST.”

“Pouring praise on the Prime Minister, Latif said that he was brave, not lucky, and that apparently was due to his smartness and planning which was carried out wisely.”

Shahbudin understands where Latif was coming from, he wanted to dispel notions that Najib was in fact a coward, allegedly not firm, late, and too careful to the extent that he has long been dismissed as “roti canai kosong” or “roti canai tanpa telur”.

The analyst, revisiting the issue of Najib suing all and sundry for alleged defamation, noted that the Prime Minister had yet to decide whether to drag the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) to Court. “This really proves that he’s timid, a coward. Many Tuesdays have passed since he first swore that he would sue the American newspaper.”

Shahbudin pointed out that after the WSJ had provided the clarifications and explanations sought by Najib’s lawyers, that it stood by its Friday 3 July report that nearly USD700 million entered his personal accounts before the 2013 General Election, the Prime Minister now wants to know whether the US newspaper would invoke the Speech Act (Securing The Protection Of Our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage) if he sues it for alleged defamation. “This is his new excuse for delaying action against the WSJ.”

However, when Ling alleged that Najib “took other people’s money to put in his pocket”, he was all gung-ho and wanted to immediately drag the former MCA Chief to Court, added the analyst. “Ling even said that Najib should vacate the Prime Minister’s post and refused to apologise although given seven days. Ling gave his answer almost immediately.”

“Ling was expressing support for the same position taken by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad who is not being sued. The former MCA Chief said that he wants to see Najib standing in the witness stand to defend his reputation.”