Another Umno minister distances himself from red shirts

Noh Omar today became the second Umno minister to distance himself from the red shirts, after the group's supporters assaulted a Bersih activist last week.

This comes after Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin denounced the act as "unacceptable" and called for police action.

Three men have been arrested over the Sabak Bernam incident, which saw a Bersih activist kicked twice and pelted with eggs.

However, Noh, who is Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Minister, stressed the red shirts are not affiliated with Umno, despite being led by Selangor Umno strongman, Sungai Besar division chief Jamal Md Yunos.

"I can respond to it if the group is sponsored by Selangor Umno, but it's an NGO so it has nothing to do (with us). It's an NGO, not Umno. So you go ask the red shirts," he said when met after visiting public housing flats (PPR) in Subang today.

Noh, who is Selangor Umno liaison chief, was also asked to respond to Jamal's claim that police had unfairly favoured Bersih during clashes between the electoral watchdog's convoy members and the red shirts.

"This is a police matter. Their job is to uphold justice, and they do their job. In my opinion, we have to respect the law and respect the police," he said.

'Call rally off'

Similarly, he said, Bersih should call off its mega rally in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 19 and wait for the outcome of the 14th general election.

"Enough is enough, we have laws. We have a federal constitution, and if (Bersih) is dissatisfied with the elections, wait for the elections first. Don't keep holding rallies - Bersih 1, Bersih 2, what for?

"Respect the law. All citizens must do so. It doesn't matter if they're yellow shirts, red shirts - no one is above the law," he said.

Separately, Noh urged Selangor to allow the federal government to manage the Lembah Subang 1 PPR.

"I have informed the residents that their homes actually belong to the federal government, because this is federal land. According to the law, this under our jurisdiction.

"We had only allowed the state to manage it, and as I understand, there is no formal contract. So we are asking the state to return the rights to us,' he said, adding that a discussion on the matter will be held tomorrow.

He also condemned the state government for allegedly pointing fingers over issues in the state instead of resolving them.

"The Selangor government is a 'bangau oh bangau' government. Whenever there are problems, it will lay blame on others, just like the nursery rhyme 'bangau oh bangau'," he said.

He said the state is like the proverbial hen, which clucks loudly over a single egg laid, even though the people of Selangor "continue to suffer". - mkini