I didn’t advocate violence, Kit Siang tells Najib over Sri Lanka comparisons

 

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang says it was not his intention to incite any unrest.

PETALING JAYA: DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has denied advocating violence in drawing comparisons between Malaysia and Sri Lanka, which was recently plagued by unrest.

This comes after Najib Razak accused the Iskandar Puteri MP of inciting the public by questioning whether Malaysia will suffer the same fate as Sri Lanka, with the former prime minister urging the police to arrest Lim.

In a statement today, Lim maintained that he was merely warning that Malaysia should learn from its Asian neighbour’s ongoing experience and prevent its political and socio-economic conditions from deteriorating.

He also said he had changed the heading of the statement in question, which was initially titled “Will the houses of the prime minister and ministers of Malaysia be set on fire by angry protesters as happened in Sri Lanka last week?”, after being advised by his political secretary.

“I had no objection to changing the heading as my intention was not to incite any unrest, but to warn of the dangers of allowing the political and socio-economic conditions to deteriorate, like what happened in Sri Lanka for over half a century.

“I expected opportunists to twist and distort the meaning and purpose of my statement as one of incitement, but I had not expected a former prime minister to head the charge,” he said.

Yesterday, Najib said Lim should not have issued the statement and instead enjoy life as a retiree. But Lim told the Pekan MP he had retired from “competitive politics”, not politics as a whole.

Earlier this month, the houses of several lawmakers from Sri Lanka’s ruling party were set on fire by anti-government protesters.

An MP from the ruling party was also killed in a violent protest which forced Mahinda Rajapaksa to resign as prime minister. - FMT