Lim Kit Siang revealed that he had received messages regarding his son Lim Guan Eng's performance as finance minister.
He said the messages stated that it would be wiser for Guan Eng to cease making opposition-like statements and the country would be better off with more economically positive pointers and narratives.
The DAP veteran also cited an article in Bloomberg, which urged the finance minister to be more tactful in handling the 1MDB scandal.
Conceding with these views, Kit Siang agreed Guan Eng should be more tactful but included a caveat.
“I can agree there should be 'tactful handling of the 1MDB mess' but not if by being tactful one continues with the sea of lies, fake news and false information about 1MBD.
“Tactful by all means, but it can be no excuse not to adhere strictly to the principles of truth, transparency and accountability in dealing with the 1MDB mess,” he added in a statement today.
Guan Eng had been criticised over his announcements regarding 1MDB's debts which reportedly shook investor confidence and caused stock prices at Bursa Malaysia to tumble.
The Bloomberg article had also chastised Guan Eng for his attacks against 1MDB chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy and his claim that Malaysia's debt level exceeded RM1 trillion.
"Investors are uneasy about things getting out of hand. Already, foreigners have sold out on the nation’s stocks for 13 consecutive days.
"For (Guan Eng) to declare in his first press conference that government debt has exceeded one trillion ringgit because of a sly public bailout of 1MDB gets him full marks for honesty, but not for tact.
"The colourful language against (Arul) Kanda is jarring in an official press release. Malaysia isn't a banana republic but a sovereign rated A3 by Moody’s Investors Service," read the article, which reminded Guan Eng that his job is to keep investors placated and ensure the economy progresses.
Earlier today, Guan Eng vowed to forge ahead with his approach, saying it is more important to show that the new government is committed to transparency instead of “hiding” spending.
Meanwhile, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index rebounded slightly to 1,795.20 as of 12.30pm today, gaining 19.54 points (1.09 percent). In contrast, it had lost 69 points in the previous two days of trading.
According to Kit Siang, both Pakatan Harapan and BN must learn their new roles, the former as the government of Malaysia and the latter as a good and constructive opposition.
“The first step for Umno/BN to become a good opposition is to admit the enormity of the criminality and moral turpitude in the 1MDB scandal as well as other corruption scandals in the country.
“So long as there is a mental block to acknowledge such corruption scandals, so long will Umno/BN be unable to be a good and constructive opposition,” he added.
Lim was responding to Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who has undertaken the tasks of the Umno president, claiming that BN would be able to make a comeback as the Harapan government is built on hatred.
The DAP veteran claimed that Umno and BN were worse.
“It was not only built on hatred, it was swimming in lies, fake news and false information – and the worst example was undoubtedly the great lie about the 1MDB international scandal,” he said. - Mkini
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