An Umno cabinet minister has urged its party secretary-general Ahmad Maslan not to claim that the party was upset with the Perikatan Nasional (PN) Plus government over several court cases.
Taking to Instagram, Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin suggested that Ahmad's position does not represent the party.
"Please don't speak on behalf of the party when it comes to this.
"More like you and a few others want to see executive interference in the judicial process.
"Then we are no better than Tommy Thomas and (Lim) Guan Eng," he said.
Thomas was appointed as the attorney-general in June 2018. By September that year, graft charges against Lim, the DAP secretary-general and then finance minister, were dropped.
Then Appellate and Trial Division/Deputy Public Prosecutor head Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria said he dropped charges when it was clear that the prosecution could not win the case and did not even inform Thomas until the very last minute. His full explanation can be read here.
As for Ahmad, he is currently facing trial for failing to declare RM2 million income received from Najib Abdul Razak and for giving false statements to the MACC.
During a live talk show published on Media Umno Malaysia's Facebook page on Monday, Ahmad claimed that one of Umno's key complaints with the PN Plus government is that court cases against Umno leaders haven't been dropped.
"This should not be... these cases brought to court were due to the cruelty during the time of (former prime minister) Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Thomas, and (former MACC chief) Latheefa Koya.
"Mahathir is no longer in government, and I don't know where Thomas and Latheefa have gone but why have these cases continued?" Ahmad asked during the show on Monday.
He added that continuing the charges against Umno leaders meant the current government is also cruel, thus necessitating a general election so a new government can be elected.
The Umno general assembly will decide on Jan 31 whether or not the party will seek fresh elections by the first quarter of 2021, depending on the Covid-19 situation.
There is currently tension between those loyal to party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also facing corruption trials, and the Bersatu leadership, which leads the PN Plus government.
- Mkini
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