PETALING JAYA: On the eve of the nation’s independence day, a Barisan Nasional leader has claimed the country is no longer a free and sovereign state following recent revelations that a US think-tank had worked with the government “to bring BN down”.
As a result, BN is organising a separate independence day picnic at the same time the national-level Merdeka celebrations are to be held in Putrajaya tomorrow morning.
Pictures on the “1Malaysia Merdeka Picnic” event, with former premier Najib Razak, have been making the rounds on social media.
Umno Supreme Council member Lokman Noor Adam, one of the event organisers, confirmed with FMT today that Najib was attending the event at the Tun Razak Memorial in the city.
For the Umno Pemantau Malaysia Baru leader, it’s not the patriotic Merdeka spirit that’s on his mind this week.
“I don’t think the country is independent any more,” Lokman said, saying he was not interested in attending the Merdeka celebrations in Putrajaya tomorrow because of this.
“The International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) have admitted they helped fund Pakatan Harapan (PH) during elections.
“It’s my view that because of the intervention of the US government here, Malaysians have been deprived of their right to a fair and clean election.”
According to Lokman, PH had “polluted” the democratic system by working with the Washington-based IRI, which is funded by the US state government and US firm NED.
Last month, IRI said its 16-year stint in Malaysia had finally “paid off”.
IRI president Daniel Twining told a forum that Washington had benefited from the new government in Putrajaya from the very start, given its “rivalry” with China.
This is in clear reference to the government’s somewhat controversial reviews of several mega projects involving Chinese companies like the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project.
“The IRI and NED are guilty of conspiring with PH against Najib as well,” Lokman added.
He said it was PH that “spearheaded” the bad impression of Najib among the people, referring to the 1MDB scandal that the former finance minister is currently embattled in.
Lokman, who was the BN’s candidate in the recently-concluded Sungai Kandis by-election, said he saw no reason to attend any event “funded by an American proxy” and hosted by a coalition riddled with making mistakes one after the other.
He trained his guns once more at PH for not doing good on its election promises.
These included its expressed intention to stop BN initiatives like the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M), which was introduced by the Najib administration.
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said last weekend that BR1M payouts would now be “slowly reduced” before the programme is brought to an eventual halt at an unspecified date.
Tomorrow’s event with Najib features a brisk-walking session in the morning and a gift-giving session for those attending the function at the Perdana Botanical Gardens.
Games and a picnic session are scheduled in the late morning at the Perdana Botanical Gardens, with lunch provided by the hosts.
Those attending have been advised to bring their own mats.- FMT
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