PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan dismissed the prime minister’s insinuation yesterday that Perikatan Nasional had received political funding from gambling companies.
Describing it as slander, he challenged Anwar Ibrahim to prove his claims.
“The allegation is completely unfounded and PAS demands the Pakatan Harapan prime minister to show proof of such wild allegations, if any.
“If unable, PN will consider legal action against those who slander,” Takiyuddin (above) said in a statement last night.
Echoing Takiyuddin’s demand for evidence, Bersatu Youth information chief Mohd Ashraf Mustaqim Badrul Munir also accused Anwar of abusing his government platform to play up political sentiments.
“For the first time, we saw a prime minister playing political sentiment without providing anything to justify his claims and abusing an official government platform at the Prime Minister's Office, which should have been a place to discuss issues about the rakyat,” Ashraf said in a separate statement last night.
“We ask the 10th prime minister, who is also the finance minister, to provide evidence to back his claim.
“He better come up with proof in black and white, instead of simply saying stuff like they are not in the government,” he added.
Ashraf also questioned if Anwar and Pakatan Harapan parties received donations from foreign organisations that may jeopardise the country’s security.
The prime minister made the allegation during a press conference yesterday, implying that PN’s election funds partly came from gaming companies involved in special draws.
During the presser, Anwar also announced the government’s decision to reduce the frequency of special draws to only eight a year from 22.
The frequency was previously eight annually before the PN administration increased it to 22.
On this, Ashraf, while saying he personally supported the reduction of special draws, said the government should have banned gaming altogether as what PN did in states under its control.
This includes Kedah, where the state government will enforce an effective ban on the operations of all gaming shops by not renewing business licences issued by the local councils.
Ashraf also claimed Harapan supporters were being hypocritical by previously criticising PN for denying the rights of non-Muslims by banning gambling shops.
“It is also now a challenge for the prime minister, Home Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Digital Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil to prevent illegal online gaming activities after reducing the special draws frequency, as the proceeds from online gaming go to unknown sources and are also cancer to the society,” he added. - Mkini
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