Lajim denies knowledge of video of him making defamatory remarks

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah president Datuk Seri Lajim Haji Ukin yesterday denied any knowledge about the video of him allegedly making defamatory remarks.

"I don't know who taped it and my lawyer has asked for (a copy) of the tape," he told reporters yesterday after the conclusion of the State Assembly sitting.

Lajim added that he had already received the letter from Parti Warisan Sabah demanding him to make a public clarification over the defamatory remarks that were recorded in the video and audio.

"My lawyer will study it first before making a statement," he said.

He added that the Parti Warisan Sabah's counsel, Norazmi Hj Alimat also did not have the full video and could not prove that it was Lajim's speech.

In the video and audio clip, Lajim who was at a public event allegedly said: "yang bikin IC ini ialah kepala dia siapa ialah Presiden" (the one who made these IC the head of which is the President) followed by a bleeping sound that censored the name of a political party.

Lajim also commented that it was normal for various matters to come up prior to the election.

“That is normal. Look at Mahathir (Tun Mahathir Mohamed) and Najib (the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak),” he said.

He added that it was also a norm for opposition parties to fight with each other but reminded that the ones that would lose were the people.

He reminded that although Barisan Nasional (BN) has 14 component parties, they have one logo and one manifesto, which is unlike the opposition with their many logos and manifestoes which will only serve to confuse the people.

Nevertheless, he believed that the issue could be resolved if everyone was united.

“We need to work to be united and to work together. Everyone must be confident that we have the same objective,” he said.

He added that the people were watching if they could be united and if they failed, the people would lose confidence that the opposition would be able to bring BN down.

Asked if he was disappointed, Lajim explained that there was no disappointment in politics.

“I have been in politics for 33 years. Even when I was ousted I wasn’t disappointed,” he said.

He reminded the opposition parties that they would only succeed in splitting the votes if they continued their disunity.

Meanwhile, Parti Warisan Sabah has reiterated that the letter given to Lajim’s representative on Tuesday is to seek a public clarification over his recent insinuating remarks captured in a video clip and is not a notice of a defamation suit.

Norazmi explained that Lajim has three days to respond in writing to the letter, failing which the party will then initiate civil proceedings.

He said this at a press conference on Wednesday to clear any misconception concerning the letter after discovering many netizens had mistaken it as a notice for defamation.

On Tuesday, he presented the said letter to Lajim’s deputy and counsel, Datuk Maijol Mahap at the lobby of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly building.

Warisan’s counsels are in the midst of preparing a full transcript of the video clip to verify the validity of Lajim’s remarks and are seeking the original clip without the censored parts.

Maijol has since requested for a copy of the video clip and Norazmi said it would be handed to him late Wednesday afternoon.

If there is no response from Lajim, Warisan’s counsels will file a suit but only to compel him to disclose what he said.

“We want to know what was actually said on the part that was censored,” said Norazmi, who added that if one were to lip read, it appeared Lajim could have said “Warisan”, “Barisan” or even “Harapan”.

Further, he was speaking publicly concerning the sensitive issue of identity cards which hit a raw nerve with Sabahans.

“The video allegation on IC is very sensitive.

The people want to know, why the bleep. In that same clip, Datuk Seri Lajim also stated that he was a committee member of an action council on foreign workers and illegal immigrants (pekerja asing dan PTI) which means he knows and that is what we want him to disclose,” he said.

In the letter, Norazmi stated that the absence of a public clarification or denial from Lajim over his remarks in the video and audio clip will be construed as a direct accusation against their client, Datu Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, president of Parti Warisan Sabah.