Ismail Sabri refuses to apologise for 'jihad against Harapan'

Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob (above) will not apologise over his remark that jihad is being waged against the Pakatan Harapan government.

"Of course not," said the opposition leader when asked if he would do so.

Although the term 'jihad' is often interpreted as a holy war, Ismail told reporters at the Parliament lobby this morning that he used the Arabic word in the context of a struggle.

Yesterday, DAP lawmaker Lim Lip Eng demanded that Ismail retract his statement within 24 hours.

Failing which, the Kepong MP stressed he would ask the police to investigate the Umno leader for "malicious and seditious hate speech."

During an event on Sunday night, Ismail described the Umno-PAS alliance as a jihad to overthrow the Harapan government, which he accused of being “anti-Malay” and “anti-Islam.”

Following this, Home Minister Muhyiddin said the government would act against any party which made such allegations against the government.

Commenting on this, Ismail said if the government takes action against him, then it would show that freedom of expression under the current administration is worse than the previous one.

(More to follow) - Mkini