Kit Siang, Annuar trade barbs over role as defender of Islam

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said Umno information chief Annuar Musa cannot be more wrong on his claim that Pakatan Harapan cannot defend Islam because of DAP.

"DAP will uphold and defend the real values and true teachings of Islam and those of other great religions, whether Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism or Sikkhism, which are to promote peace, honesty, justice, freedom and solidarity.

"A DAP and Pakatan Harapan federal government will make Malaysia a model for the world of how people of diverse races, religions, cultures and languages can unite and create a peaceful, harmonious, democratic, progressive and prosperous nation and not allow a Taliban state as advocated by a few," Lim said in a statement today.

Lim (photo) noted that even Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Ismail had declared that Johor will not be a Taliban state, stating that the rise of extremism, bigotry and intolerance was an indictment of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's nation-building policies.

"It is a supreme irony that while Najib promotes the initiative of a Global Movement of Moderates in international forums, he has done nothing as prime minister inside the country to speak out against the voices and forces of distrust, hatred, extremism, bigotry and intolerance in our plural society.

"Why did Najib abdicate from his responsibility as prime minister of plural Malaysia?" Lim, the MP for Gelang Patah, asked.

At a dialogue session in Kota Bharu on Friday, Annuar (photo) warned that Harapan was dominated by DAP, which he claimed was anti-Islam.

The Ketereh MP maintained his position at another dialogue session in Kota Bharu today, stating that the only one to fear an Umno-PAS cooperation was DAP.

"We (Muslims) do not need to worry about Umno and PAS coming together. The only party that will worry is DAP, because it does not want Muslims and Malays to be united," he said.

Annuar added that Umno and PAS were brothers in Islam and there was no need to quarrel.

"For example, (PAS-led) Kelantan is backward because we (Malays and Muslims) quarrel with each other.

"So let us stop quarrelling and join forces to develop Kelantan. What wrong is there for us to be on good terms? There is no loss," he said.- Mkini