There are those who say that Lim Kit Siang has betrayed the objectives and principles of the DAP for co-operating with Tun Mahathir to save Malaysia from a global kleptocracy and a failed and a rogue state, but they have not been able to give an iota of reason to substantiate their allegations.

Recently, this was given as one of the reasons for the defection of one DAP MP and three State Assemblymen in Malacca.

Their tune and song are no different from what UMNO/BN leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers have been attacking the DAP.

For instance, the UMNO Minister for Rural and Regional Development Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri issued three days ago attacking me. It was a short five-paragraph statement but should go into the “Guinness Book of Records” for it told more than ten lies in five paragraphs.

I had challenged Ismail Sabri to a joint media conference for me to expose his more than 10 lies in five paragraphs, but he has not dared to respond for the past three days.

Let me deal with his 10 lies in the first two paragraphh of his five-paragraph statement.

1. “Lim Kit Siang seems totally relying on Mahathir to rescue his son Lim Guan Eng from going to jail.”

2. “…Kit Siang is now desperate to stop his son and heir in the Lim family dynasty – also known as DAP – going back to prison.”

3. “Lim is making a huge embarrassing U-Turn of his own”.

4. “Now he conveniently forgets what he said and wrote before.”

5. “He defends Mahathir on the BMF scandal and Bank Negara Forex losses so that Guan Eng escapes jail.”

6. “Also, Kit Siang hopes to be deputy prime minister while Mukhriz becomes Prime Minister if the DAP-Opposition wins power.”

If Ismail Sabri has proof of these ten allegations, and they are not just baseless lies, he would have welcomed with open arms a joint media conference to publicly embarrass me no end. Why is he keeping silent?

Let me make the following statements to rebut his ten lies that I am exposing tonight.

Firstly, his statement ““Lim Kit Siang seems totally relying on Mahathir to rescue his son Lim Guan Eng from going to jail.” Let me declare that in the past year that I had met and discussed current national issues with Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad starting with the Citizen’s Declaration in March last year, I had never discussed Guan Eng’s corruption case with Mahathir, let alone asking the former Prime Minister to intervene to “rescue” Guan Eng from going to jail.

What power has Mahathir to “intervene” to “rescue” Guan Eng, when Mahathir himself may be the first former Prime Minister to be charged in court one day!

Secondly, his statement “…Kit Siang is now desperate to stop his son and heir in the Lim family dynasty – also known as DAP – going back to prison”.

If there is any political leader in Malaysia who is “desperate”, he is none other than the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who has led Malaysia to become a “global kleptocracy”.

Although Najib refuses to acknowledge the existence of the 1MDB global kleptocratic money-laundering scandal, the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal refuses to go away as for some two years, the 1MDB scandal continues to make international headlines.

Malaysians have not forgotten the Teoh Beng Hock scandal, where the life of a young idealistic Malaysian was snuffed out by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in an attempt to falsely implicate the DAP in a alleged corruption case.

In an attempt to cover up the 1MDB kleptocratic scandal, efforts are being made to create another victim with another false corruption allegation against a DAP leader.

I do not feel “desperate” but very sad that Malaysia has regressed so badly, becoming a global kleptocracy and heading towards a failed and rogue state when we should be one of the top nations in the world. I am more resolute to mobilise Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, to Save Malaysia from a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state.

Thirdly, his statement “Lim is making a huge embarrassing U-Turn of his own”.

This is also the reason repeated to justify the defection of one DAP MP and three State Assemblymen in Malacca. If this allegation is true, Ismail Sabri should have no qualms in a joint media conference to publicly expose him. I invite all who make this baseless allegation to cite an instance where I had made an “embarrassing U-Turn”.

Fourthly and Fifthly, his statement “Now he conveniently forgets what he said and wrote before.” There are two lies here – that I “conveniently forgets” what I (I) said and (ii) wrote. Just cite one instance to substantiate this garbage of an allegation – and this applies to Ismail Sabri as well as the four elected representatives who had betrayed the DAP and the voters of Malaysia.

Sixthly to Ninthly, his statement “He defends Mahathir on the BMF scandal and Bank Negara Forex losses so that Guan Eng escapes jail.” There are four lies here. I have never defended Mahathir whether on the BMF scandal or the Bank Negara Forex losses, and neither of these two cases have anything to do with “Guan Eng escapes jail”.

Tenthly, his statement “Also, Kit Siang hopes to be deputy prime minister while Mukhriz becomes Prime Minister if the DAP-Opposition wins power.”

There had been an accusation that there had been a Lim Kit Siang-Mahathir secret meeting on Dec. 3 to seal a deal that Mukhriz Mahathir would become Prime Minister and I would become Deputy Prime Minister.

There was not only no such Dec. 3 meeting between Mahathir and myself, I can declare that in my meetings and discussions with Mahathir, we had never touched on who should be Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister.

But let us go back a bit into history.

When US President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin co-operated during the Second World War to halt Hitler’s Nazi German aggression, were Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin betraying their nation?

When Mao Tse Tung and Chiang Kai Shek combined against Japanese imperialist invasion of China, was Mao and Chiang individually betraying their party’s objectives and principles?

Only those who are blind to history or mentally incapacitated will make any such allegations!

Some people have asked how I could extend an olive branch of peace to invite PAS President, Datuk Seri Ahmad Hadi Awang to a movement to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state.

It would appear that to some of these people, they do not have too strong an objection to the invitation to the UMNO President and leaders of Barisan Nasional parties.

Firstly, the term “olive branch of peace” was never used by me. It was used by the media.

Yes, there are people who said that my personal proposal was an “olive branch of peace”. But there are also other people who said that the proposal was a “poisoned chalice”, meant to expose and isolate Hadi as a Malaysian political leader who is prepared to support a global kleptocrat as a Malaysian national leader because this does not matter so long as the leader is an Islamic leader.

I never said my personal proposal to “Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state” was an olive branch of peace or a “poisoned chalice”, but it has the effect to put every political leader to the test whether he or she is prepared to put aside our differences for a national purpose – and what could be more noble and higher in purpose than to Save Malaysia from a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state.

Malaysians, whether Malays and non-Malays, must realise that Malaysia can only be saved from becoming a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state if they are prepared to make this issue the foremost political agenda in the 14 General Election.

In the last few days, Mahathir’s speech in Alor Setar on Saturday had been making the rounds in the country.

Mahathir Mohamad conceded that he had in the past contributed to DAP’s poor reputation among Malay voters.

He added that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was also continuing with the demonisation of DAP.

He said: “They are afraid to vote (for DAP because) if DAP wins, (they think) Lim Kit Siang will become prime minister.

“Therefore the Malays fear DAP. To some extent, I contributed to DAP’s poor reputation.

“I portrayed DAP as an evil party that wanted to control Malaysia and did not care about the fate of the Malays.”

However, Mahathir indicated that he had done so as a political strategy.

“Of course, if you want to win… you have to demonise the opponent.

“They too demonised me… They called me Mahafiraun (great pharaoh) and mahazalim (great despot), they accused me of all kinds of things,” he said.

The DAP and I have been demonised in the past five decades as anti-Malay and anti-Islam, when there was no basis whatsoever. Lim Guan Eng went to jail for an underaged Malay and Muslim girl to protect her rights and dignity, and lost his MPship and was disenfranchised for five years when released from Kajang Prison, unable to contest in any elective office or even to cast his vote. Did any UMNO or BN party leader go to jail to sacrifice his political future, whether as MP or Assembly representative?

In my 51 years in politics, I have never called any political opponent anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Malay, anti-Kadazan, anti-Iban or anti-Christian, anti-Buddhist, anti-Hindu or anti-Islam.

We must Save Malaysia by starting a new political culture – no politics of fear, no politics of hatred and no politics of lies.

Mahathir is trying to undo his demonisation of DAP and I are anti-Malay and anti-Islam. Let all Malaysians rise above race, religion or region and have a Malaysian vision, because no single race or religion can save Malaysia.

Finally, let me state that I had never called Mahathir “Mahafiraun” or “Mahazalim”.

(Speech to DAP State and branch leaders and members at DAP Malacca premises on Tuesday. 12th February 2017 at 9 pm)