Sorry, I didn't intend to humiliate others, Ahmad on his 'derogatory' remarks

 

Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan has tendered an apology over his controversial remarks that only the highly educated or PhD holders understand the need for a general election.

He said he apologised to those who were upset with what he said, and stressed that he is not a person to humiliate others.

He was referring to a statement he made at an event streamed on Umno Online's Facebook on Jan 8.

He has implied that only those highly educated group or PhD holders were able to better understand the need for snap elections.

"Yes, it is true that I apologise to those who were upset with me.

"It is not my behaviour to humiliate others. That means, it is not intentional," he said in a Facebook posting today.

He added that he himself was born into a poor family and was a son of a rubber tapper.

"It's not my nature to humiliate people," stressed Ahmad, who is also a three-term Pontian MP.

In the Jan 8 event, Ahmad pointed out that many countries had managed to hold general elections amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

He then referred to a certain television interview featuring someone who worked as a coconut grater saying a general election should not be held due to the virus.

“We need a general election because this government has the smallest majority in the world. There are 222 parliament seats, and you need a minimum of 112 seats to become the government. The Malaysian government right now only ha 112 seats, do you realise this?

“I think the coconut grater (who was interviewed for the programme) did not realise this. The person was interviewed as a voice from the grassroots, and I don’t know if they graduated from high school or not. If they were from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) or had a PhD, then I think they would have commented on the issue more accurately,” Ahmad said.

He came under fire from DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and sacked BN secretary-general Annuar Musa for his "derogatory" remarks.

Ahmad also defended his position on the snap polls, explaining that his suggestion is to hold the polls when the flood had subsided and after Covid-19 vaccination programme had kicked off.

"I said GE (to be held) if the flood is over and after the vaccination programme had started. The election campaign can be carried out online via social media," he tweeted on Jan 10.

"If (we) can go to the shops, supermarkets, restaurants and queue up everyday, why not just queue up for one day to cast our ballots with stricter SOPs," he said.

Umno supreme council has recently endorsed a motion from 189 divisions out of its 191 to break ties with Bersatu, which would trigger a snap election.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said he could not call for snap polls during the pandemic, but he assured that he would call as soon as it was safe to do so. - Mkini