Pakatan roadshow a desperate act, says Jasa DG

Puad Zarkashi says Rafizi Ramli and Pakatan Harapan are destroying the nation, not rebuilding it.

KOTA KINABALU: Special Affairs Department (Jasa) director-general Mohd Puad Zarkashi has described Pakatan Harapan’s “Rebuild the Nation” roadshow as a desperate attempt to get the people’s support after failing to manipulate various issues like 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

He said Pakatan Harapan had to use the “Rebuild the Nation” slogan for the roadshow as they felt threatened by the theme of this year’s National Day celebrations, “Malaysia, My Country”.

“What is it exactly that they want to rebuild? Malaysia is not a failed nation. Malaysia is a successful country. Our ringgit is getting stronger. Our economy is getting better, foreign investment is increasing and so on.

“So actually, what they are doing is not rebuilding the nation but destroying it. That is the truth. They want to destroy the country and sabotage the economy,” he told reporters after attending the Sabah Jasa Aidilfitri gathering here, which was attended by more than 500 guests.

Also present at the event today were Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman, his deputy Yahya Hussin, members of the state cabinet, Sabah Jasa director Abdul Manap Lakariba and leaders of the Barisan Nasional component parties.

Puad said the slogan for the roadshow clearly showed that Rafizi Ramli and Pakatan Harapan were lying because Malaysia was not a failed state.

He added that the efforts by Rafizi and Pakatan Harapan to revive the lawsuit by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) against 1MDB to defame Malaysian leaders were proof of the opposition’s failure to manipulate the issue because the first suit had not even been brought to trial.

“Even (US President) Donald Trump does not believe the DoJ, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and so on. So why should we in Malaysia pay lobbyists in America to take the case against the DoJ? To me, this is destroying the nation,” he said.

Puad added that Rafizi and Pakatan Harapan always made assumptions and considered these assumptions to be “sacred” but in reality, these assumptions were destructive.

He said Rafizi had previously been sued six times in court for defamation, and of these, he was found guilty in four cases and fined.

“This proves that he is a liar. Of the six cases, he got caught in four and was fined, which proves he was lying.

“Now, he wants to have a roadshow. This is just playing with the sentiments of the people. I hope the public will reject people like this,” he said. -FMT