‘Kit Siang must break silence’
KUALA LUMPUR: DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang has to clarify his stance on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s controversial remarks on the Bugis community, Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak said.
It was reported that the Pakatan Harapan pro tem chairman had allegedly described the Bugis community as “pirates” in his attacks against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, during a small opposition rally in Petaling Jaya on Oct 14.
Salleh said Lim’s silence could be construed as support for the controversial remark.
“Lim has to make clear his stance on this issue. Otherwise his silence will be viewed as tacit support for what Dr Mahathir had stated, and may be interpreted to support what (former DAP member) ‘Superman’ Hew Kuan Yew said about Lim using D r M ahathir as a weapon to fight the Malays.
“If Lim wants to be taken seriously as (the pro-tem opposition pact) Pakatan Harapan’s prime minister-in-waiting, he cannot remain silent and continue to hide behind his Malay proxy,” Salleh said in his blog post.
He said Lim’s silence ran contrary to his usual prompt issuance of statements on controversies and his labelling them as being “orchestrated by Umno”.
Salleh also said the issue had gained extensive coverage in most of the Bahasa Malaysia, English and Chinese media, following the rebuke by Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.
Apart from widespread protests by various parties, Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla became the latest figure demanding that Dr Mahathir apologise for his alleged derogatory remarks.