SANDAKAN POLLS | Umno acting president Mohamad Hasan claims that DAP leaders such as Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng are out to destroy the partnership between Umno and PAS because they know the alliance is a disaster for them.
He was responding to Kit Siang's claim yesterday that it would be a victory for the Umno-PAS partnership if Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) were to win the Sandakan by-election on May 11.
"He is out to attack Umno and PAS. What comes out of the mouths of Kit Siang, Guan Eng and other DAP leaders are meant to destroy the cooperation of Umno and PAS because they know that this co-operation is a disaster for DAP.
"(It is a disaster) to DAP because they have been poisoning the minds of the people," Mohamad said to reporters last night, after speaking at a ceramah in Sandakan.
He said DAP is so spooked by the Umno-PAS partnership that it has said the partnership is a declaration of war against non-Muslims and non-Malays.
"That is wrong. We can cooperate, what is the issue?" Mohamad said.
The 'declaration of war' remark was in reference to a statement in Chinese that Guan Eng (photo, below) issued in March, in which the finance minister urged MCA to immediately leave BN because Umno and PAS were now "declaring war" on non-Muslims.
Guan Eng issued a correction several hours later, which replaced the phrase "declaring war" with "targeting".
Both the original statement and the corrected version were in Chinese and issued in his capacity as DAP leader.
The statement attracted numerous brickbats, with a total of 58 police reports being lodged against Guan Eng nationwide.
'Malicious intent'
Mohamad said that Umno had not commented on DAP working with PAS in Pakatan Rakyat, nor had it commented on DAP working with Amanah, a splinter group from PAS.
"But why, when we want to have an understanding, cooperation between Umno and PAS, must you come out with such a statement?
"This is not right. They definitely have malicious intent," he said.
He also responded to PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, who had said the Sandakan by-election is a battleground between Pakatan Harapan and Umno-PAS.
PBS is the one contesting in this by-election, Mohamad said, and Umno is merely supporting them as part of an understanding that they are together in the opposition bloc.
"This time it is PBS that is contesting, so we help PBS as opposition parties.
"Maybe if there is another by-election in Sabah, it could be that Umno will contest and we hope then that PBS, Star (Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku Rakyat Sabah) and other parties would help us.
"This is an understanding that we have developed within the opposition bloc," he said.
Last night’s ceramah marked Mohamad's first appearance in Sandakan to campaign for PBS.
The acting Umno president was greeted with loud cheers when he arrived at the venue.
Leaders from various Sabah opposition parties, including Star, PAS and PBS itself, also attended the ceramah.
Aside from Mohamad, the event featured two other speakers, former minister in the prime minister's department Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin.
Linda Tsen, who is PBS’ candidate for the Sandakan by-election, did not attend the ceramah. She is facing DAP candidate Vivian Wong and three independents, namely Hamzah Abdullah, Sulaiman Abdul Samat and Chia Siew Yong. - Mkini
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