PN will exploit pig-farming controversy, warns Loke

 The DAP leader says Perikatan Nasional will make use of the issue to portray DAP as disrespecting the royal institution.

Speaking at a fundraising dinner, DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook said the party has always respected the royal institution and the Sultan of Selangor.

PUCHONG:

 The opposition is likely to frame a proposal by a DAP assemblyman on modernising pig farming in Selangor as an example of the party disrespecting the royal institution, party leader Loke Siew Fook said today.

Loke, who is DAP secretary-general, said Perikatan Nasional would seize the opportunity to exploit the controversy sparked by the proposal.

“They will claim that DAP does not respect the Sultan of Selangor. But I want to emphasise that DAP has always respected the royal institution and the Sultan of Selangor,” he said at a fundraising dinner here.

Earlier this week, Seri Kembangan assemblyman Wong Siew Ki had called for a modern, closed pig farming system to be implemented in the state.

She said the issue of pig farming touched on the right to equality under the Federal Constitution and argued that pig farming should not be singled out from other forms of livestock farming.

Her proposal triggered criticism from the opposition, who said it contradicted Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah’s call for a complete end to pig farming in the state.

Loke said Wong had merely presented an “alternative view” in a respectful manner. “It is the duty of an elected representative to do so, and the DAP leadership will defend our assemblymen’s right to provide constructive criticism in the state assembly.”

He urged other DAP assemblymen in Selangor and its allies in Pakatan Harapan to highlight PN’s hypocrisy.

Wong came under a barrage of opposition criticism, with Selangor PAS Youth demanding that she be suspended from the state assembly, while assemblyman Dr Afif Bahardin from Bersatu attempted to table a motion to refer her to the rights and privileges committee, and Umno’s Jamal Yunos called for her to “get out of Selangor” for disagreeing with the sultan.

However, Wong has stood by her proposal, saying it was based on feedback from residents in her constituency. - FMT