I want to congratulate the Rural and Regional Development Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, for another dubious “first” in Malaysian politics – telling ten lies in a short five-paragraph statement.

I am prepared to appear in a joint media conference with him for me to point out the 10 lies he had told in his five-paragraph statement attacking me yesterday.

Let us see whether Ismail Sabri dares to accept this challenge.

I do not think Ismail Sabri wrote these ten lies in his short five-paragraph statement, just as I do not think the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, penned the following tweet yesterday:

“Lim Kit Siang is Pakatan’s de facto leader. DAP should stop trying to hide it. Voters know DAP has the most opposition seats and Lim Kit Siang calls the shots.”

But Najib and Ismail Sabri were happy that the tweet for the former and the five-paragraph statement for the latter were issued in their name.

Both Najib’s tweet and Ismail Sabri’s statement only confirm that heavy artillery are being brought out by the UMNO’s propaganda machinery to demonise me and the DAP in the run-up to the 14th General Election.

Even more noteworthy, they are also an admission of the failure of their earlier campaign to spread the politics of fear, hatred and lies about me, whether through the UMNO/BN owned and/or controlled mainstream media, especially TV 3, New Straits Times, Berita Harian, Utusan Malaysia, with a number of their propaganda digits (including Ministers) rendered impotent in destroying their own credibility by making the stupidest of statements.

There is however one fatal flaw in the UMNO/Barisan Nasional campaign of fear, hatred and lies against me, because of one fatal inner contradiction of their campaign.

UMNO leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers accuse former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir of being my puppet and stooge, while MCA and Gerakan leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers say the opposite, that I have become Mahathir’s puppet and stooge.

UMNO/BN leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers should straighten out their propaganda campaign of fear, hatred and lies – whether Mahathir is my puppet and stooge or whether I have become Mahahir’s puppet and stooge.

Both cannot be true. Its one or the other, or both are falsehoods.

Let me advise the UMNO/BN leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers to straighten out this fatal flaw in their propaganda campaign to demonise me and the DAP – and Ismail Sabri and I can then hold the joint media conference on the ten lies in Ismail Sabri’s short five-paragraph media statement attacking me yesterday.