Malaysiakini 11 March 2016
Umno veteran Sanusi Junid has hit out at some in Umno for demonising DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, arguing instead that the person who is more dangerous to Umno and the country is billionaire Low Taek Jho, popularly known as Jho Low.
Jho Low has been linked to the 1MDB and RM2.6 billion scandals which are threatening to tear Umno apart.
“The Chinese that we should abhor, is Chinese like that Jho Low… and the scoundrels that are his friends, those are the ones we should hate, but that is the person which is seen as a good person (by Umno).
“If he is asked to go before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), he wants that his testimony be kept secret. Cannot be revealed to the people, because it might show his bad side,” he lamented in an exclusive interview with Blogger Din Turtle.
Sanusi sarcastically pointed out that despite being opposed to Umno for many years, Lim has not done Umno and the people any harm, hinting that Jho Low has perhaps had a hand in worse things.
“The people up top shouldn’t lie to the people in the villages and scare them to fear this Chinese (Lim). Is Kit Siang that great? I never see him as great. I am truly confused how an entire party of Malays is scared of one Chinese man.
“This Chinese man (Lim) who was in the opposition for dozens of years… and has never sat in the government. He never gave us any trouble. Never asked us to implement the Goods and Services Tax (GST). He never proposed in Parliament not to pay debts. He never asked Parliament to do the unreasonable,” argued Sanusi.
The former minister also snidely added that perhaps the first requirement for someone to be PM, is an undertaking that if they want to borrow state funds they must discuss with the cabinet first.
“Don’t be secretive. We cannot hide things about the rakyat’s money. It must be done in the open, there must be consultations… If there are enquiries from the public, we cannot hire others to answer for us, we must answer ourselves,” he stressed.
He also warned that what came out from the mouths of those that speak up for the PM should be scrutinised as some may have ulterior motives.
“If someone were to speak, we must verify their background, Sometimes those that speak do so because of their salary, because of their post, sometimes because they profit from speaking like they did…,” he said.
He questioned the sincerity of those who were rewarded to say good things and noted that if a person is truly seen as having done a lot of good to the party, then people would praise them without need of reward.
Sanusi added that love for the party does not mean singing praises all the time, but also in pointing out when there are problems afoot.