I didn’t use the word ‘weapon’, Guan Eng tells Abang Johari

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng has accused Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg of putting words into his mouth.

PETALING JAYA: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng today denied saying that the Federal Village Community Management Council (MPKKP) is the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government’s “weapon” to capture Sarawak in the coming state election.

“I had never used such words and I challenge Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg to show proof that I had referred to MPKKP in that manner.

“This is a disreputable act coming from (Abang Johari) of putting such words, especially ‘weapon’, into my mouth,” he said in a statement.

Opening Sarawak DAP’s 19th annual convention in Miri yesterday, Lim, the party’s secretary-general, said the finance ministry was prepared to provide the funds for the setting up of the MPKKP, involving 6,000 longhouses and villages in the state, next year.

He said the federal government agreed with the setting up of the council to prepare for the coming state election, scheduled in one-and-a-half-years’ time.

The MPKKP, he said, would facilitate the channelling of funds by the federal government for implementation of projects in the rural areas.

Following this, Abang Johari was reported to have said the formation of the MPKKP was “clearly Pakatan Harapan’s ‘weapon’ to capture Sarawak”.

“Today, I read that they said MPKKP was a weapon to capture Sarawak in the coming state election. This is what Malaya (Peninsula Malaysia) said.

“The secret is out. When the people are divided, they can take over. If they take over, our oil and gas are ‘gone’,” he was quoted as saying at the closing ceremony of “Fiesta Satok 3.0” in Kuching.

Lim described Abang Johari’s accusation against him as a “desperate” attempt by Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) to hide their “unholy alliance” with Umno and PAS.

He said Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said that BN, PAS and their allies in Sarawak and Sabah would make up a third force of 91 MPs that could engineer the formation of a new federal government.

Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen also criticised Abang Johari for his statement.

“The word ‘weapon’ was put into his (Lim’s) mouth. He did not say MPKKP is a weapon, but an empowerment of our rural folk to have a better choice,” Chong said. - FMT