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PETALING JAYA – Former DAP vice-chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim has ridiculed claims that he has offered himself as the Kedah Menteri Besar after the coming general elections.
He said the allegations made by former Information Minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin on Dec 30 were entirely politically-driven slander and defamation.
“To become Menteri Besar, I first have to be an Umno member. I am not a member of any political party,” said Tunku Abdul Aziz in a press conference here.
Zainuddin’s posting came a day after Tunku Abdul Aziz held a press conference calling for opposition leader and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to explain himself following allegations made by blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin on his blog.
Raja Petra had alleged Dr Mahathir was in negotiations with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to manoeuver a slot for his son Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir to contest the next elections as a Barisan Nasional candidate.
Dr Mahathir had after the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) annual general meeting on Saturday, deflected questions over the allegations, calling Raja Petra a “drunkard”.
“All I can see is that these claims came after I called for Dr Mahathir to respond to allegations made by Raja Petra,” said Tunku Abdul Aziz.
“But to say that I am trying to become Kedah Menteri Besar is simply slanderous. I am 84-years-old and I have no political ambitions.
“In fact, I was never a politician until I joined DAP at the age of 75. I saw that things were not what they seemed to be and I left.”
Tunku Abdul Aziz said he also had no connection with Kedah politics, although he is the nephew of the second Menteri Besar of the state Tunku Ismail Tunku Yahya.
“I was born there. But I left the state when I was 15 in 1949 and I have lived in Selangor ever since. I only go back there once a year to visit relatives,” said Tunku Abdul Aziz.
He added that for Zainuddin to state that he wanted to replace current Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah, as he felt the latter was unpopular, was another seriously slanderous accusation.
“I have not even had the pleasure of meeting Ahmad Bashah, so I cannot judge him. Zainuddin is just an expert in propaganda.
“He was a senior Cabinet member and the Minister of Information, but now he has become the ‘Minister of Misinformation’,” said Tunku Abdul Aziz.
He however said he would not be taking legal action against Zainuddin, whom he expects to be honourable enough to consider himself worthy of offering an apology.
“It is up to him,” said Tunku Abdul Aziz.
– NST
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