Teresa doesn’t deserve facing police probe, says Zaid

 

Teresa Kok is no troublemaker, says former law minister Zaid Ibrahim.

PETALING JAYA: 

Teresa Kok does not deserve being investigated by the police for raising concerns over a proposed halal certification rule, former law minister Zaid Ibrahim said today, adding that she had been 

thrown under the bus

 by DAP.

Zaid said Kok, who is MP for Seputeh and DAP vice-chairman, had brought up a matter of public interest that could quickly be resolved with common sense.

Kok should not be dismissed as a troublemaker, he said.

He urged Muslim leaders not to be emotional when a non-Muslim leader raises a matter like halal food certification. 

That issue might have crossed the line. Have a discussion, a civil one,

 Zaid said in an online posting.

Zaid, a former DAP member, also accused DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook of offering “meek support” by stating that Kok was merely doing her job as an MP.

He questioned what other ministers from DAP were doing about the matter, adding that they were 

loyal followers who could do nothing more than keep quiet

.

Simply put, Teresa is now thrown under the bus,

 Zaid said.

Kok had called for a review of a proposed rule to require halal certificates for food establishments that do not serve pork and alcohol. She said the rule would be a burden for small traders.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim who is also Pakatan Harapan chairman said she should have gone “through the proper channels” and that her remarks were unnecessary and only complicated the issue.

Kok defended her remarks saying she could not raise her views through internal channels because the matter had been raised at a public forum by religious affairs minister Na’im Mokhtar, who had not sought the views of MPs. - FMT