Pro-Najib site attacks Hishammuddin

It's ridiculous to impose conditions before accepting an ultimatum, says MyKMU.net.

PETALING JAYA: A pro-Najib website has launched an attack on Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein over his reaction to the Prime Minister’s ultimatum to Cabinet ministers to quit if they don’t agree with the way the government was handling the 1MDB scandal.

In an editorial commenting on Hishammuddin’s controversial Twitter message yesterday, an anonymous writer for MyKMU.net told Hishammuddin that the ultimatum, given on Friday, was clear and “very straight forward – take one of two choices: stay if you agree, and if you disagree, the exit door is open wide.”

The target of the remark was ambiguous. The “you” could mean any dissident minister, but could also refer specifically to Hishammuddin.

Najib reportedly gave the ultimatum after the Cabinet was briefed on the measures the government was taking to resolve the 1MDB issue. One minister has said it was not an ultimatum per se, that Najib was merely giving the ministers the choice to resign if they did not agree with the so-called 1MDB Roadmap.

Hishammuddin, who was not at the Friday meeting, said in his tweet: “Agree with conditions: 1) rationalisation of 1MDB, 2) accountability if there is wrongdoing, and 3) transparency on (conditions 1 and 2).”

MyKMU.net said it was strange that Hishammuddin should impose conditions in accepting or rejecting an ultimatum, a word that is rendered as “kata dua” (two words) in Malay.

“Since when did ultimatums come with conditions?” it said. “If there are conditions to a ‘kata dua’, then it is no longer a ‘kata dua’, but a ‘kata tiga’.”

The article said it was objectionable that Hishammuddin should give the impression that the government had not taken the responsibility to be transparent and accountable in explaining the 1MDB affair.

It said the issue of transparency and accountability was separate from the ultimatum issue “although they are connected”.

Whereas the government was already demonstrating transparency and accountability with independent probes into 1MDB, it said, the ultimatum was given because some ministers had made statements that had affected the government’s effort to counter negative perceptions regarding 1MDB.