Penang PAS man who told Lau to ‘go away’ blames poor video angle

 

Penang PAS secretary Iszuree Ibrahim said the incident has not strained his relationship with Gerakan chief Dominic Lau. (SPAN pic)

PETALING JAYA: A Penang PAS leader at the centre of a fiasco involving Gerakan president Dominic Lau earlier this month has blamed the angle at which the video of the incident was taken for the “confusion”.

In his first public comments about the Aug 1 Perikatan Nasional (PN) ceramah in Sungai Dua where he told Lau to leave, Penang PAS secretary Iszuree Ibrahim said the video had caused confusion among the public.

Iszuree also said the crowd at the ceramah was quite noisy and this had forced him to speak loudly in order to be heard.

“The journalist took this opportunity to ‘damage’ our relationship,” he said in a Facebook video.

“The atmosphere (at the time) was quite noisy… People from Penang tend to speak like that (noisily), but from the camera angle taken by the journalist… it comes off as if I was being rude (to Lau).”

Previously, a group of PAS grassroots members protested against Lau being parachuted in to be the PN candidate for Bayan Lepas, saying that Iszuree should have been fielded instead to contest the Malay-majority seat.

A video by Malaysiakini showed Lau, a PN deputy chairman, being prevented by Iszuree from following PAS vice-president Idris Ahmad to the stage.

When someone protested, the PAS leader could be heard telling Lau: “Tak boleh (No, you can’t). You go away.”

PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan has since apologised to Lau on behalf of PAS, saying the Gerakan chief should have been welcomed to the event and treated as a guest in accordance with Islamic principles.

Explaining the situation that night, Iszuree said Lau was not invited to the event as it was held in Seberang Perai Utara, a predominantly Malay area.

He said Lau was advised not to attend the ceramah to maintain harmony as many PAS members were unhappy with his candidacy in Bayan Lepas.

Despite the negative headlines, Iszuree said the incident has not strained his relationship with Lau, his former schoolmate at SMK Abdullah Munshi.

“It’s not like we just met,” said Iszuree in the Facebook video.

“I have never had a big argument with him, but differences in opinion are normal.” - FMT