I am quite bemused by the latest antics of the Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications Director Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, although I must thank him for finally resolving the question in my mind as to what are the job specifications of a BN Strategic Communications Director – which is clearly to create and amass “strategic lies” about the Opposition and to use them to attack the Opposition parties in the BN-UMNO owned or controlled mainstream mass media and the social media.
This is the reason for the outpouring, close to an avalanche, of demonization of myself in the last three months in the UMNO/Barisan owned or controlled mass media, like the New Straits Times, Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian, Star, or TV3, when for the past half a century of my political activities, I was blacked out in these media, with clear directive given in one mainstream media that my photograph was never to be used.
Now I appear almost daily, if not in New Straits Times, then in Utusan, Berita Harian, Star or TV3, even with pictures – but there were no news, facts or truth, but downright lies, falsehood and fake news.
A recent egregious example of such lies, falsehoods and fake news is the allegation that Tun Mahathir and I had a secret meeting on Dec. 3 last year where a secret deal was struck that Mukhriz Mahathir would be the Prime Minister and I be the Deputy Prime Minister, when there was never such a meeting between Mahathir and myself on Dec. 3, and we had never discussed the subjects of Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in our discussions so far.
The latest example of such BN “strategic lies” is that I had masterminded electoral fraud in the DAP party elections in 2012, which is a new twist to a tissue of lies which had been concocted and disseminated in BN/UMNO misinformation campaign in the past few years.
Abdul Rahman wants me to retire from politics for failing to topple Barisan Nasional in previous general elections and he said that I should “feel ashamed” towards DAP party members and should make way for other capable leaders.
It is Abdul Rahman who is a man of no shame, who does not realise that he is making a fool of himself, trying to shed “crocodile tears”. If I am such a political failure in DAP, then Abdul Rahman should be praying fervently that I will remain instead of wanting to see me retire. What hypocrisy, cant and utter bunkum from the BN Strategic Communications Director!
This was the same mistake Rahman made when he suddenly “championed” the DAP cause, and claimed that that there are DAP grassroots members and leaders who want a change of DAP party leadership and that I should retire from politics. If Rahman claimed is true, why is he spoiling and sabotaging the plans of these DAP grassroots members and leaders by publicly championing their cause?
These are indeed very “strategic” errors by the BN Strategic Communications Director. I am prepared to give the BN Strategic Communications Director a free tuition course on the meaning of what is “strategic” and what is not.
It should be “strategic” for Malaysia for instance that we should not be regarded as a global kleptocracy, to a stage where we are being mocked and ridiculed by the world, but even by our neighbours like in Riau in Indonesia.
Surely, as BN Strategic Communications Director, Abdul Rahman should be aware of the article entitled “Graft fighting Riau people shocked at 1MDB scandal” which appeared in the Singapore news publication The Independent three days ago on 26th March, which read:
“There is no polling in Riau that will tell the extent of the sentiment expressed by the locals over the 1MDB scandal.
“But as soon as Prime Minister Najib Razak’s image appears on local television stations, patrons in coffee shops and restaurants would mumble in silence: ‘RM2.6 billion and he walks free!’ they would say.
“Though Indonesia is widely known for its corruption – which is at times embedded in the culture of the country’s politics in particular – Riau has seen its fair share of a witch hunt.
“From Members of the Parliament to Assemblymen, police officers and governor’s of Riau, the long arm of the law did not sit back to watch the criminals get away with corruption.
“And the locals in townships and villages are aghast at the fact that Najib Razak has remained in power despite being hit by a massive scandal of international scale.
“Why the interest in Malaysia?
“Oil rich Riau has a population of cross-breeds, that speaks Bahasa Melayu and they have a history linking them to Malaysia through the Malaysian states of Malacca and Johor.
“In the past, Johor was part of the greater Johor-Riau kingdom and the affinity does not end there.
“Thousands of Riau citizens travels to Malaysia either for health care or on business trips, while some own houses in Johor, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan.
“Two years ago, Riau governor Annas Maamun was dragged to the Bandung Corruption Court.
“Annas was found guilty of accepting bribes in a forest conversion case that caused the state losses of US$375,460.
“The court sentenced Annas to six years in prison and fined him Rp 200 million, or face an additional two months’ imprisonment.
“The verdict read as follows: ‘An aggravating factor is that the defendant is a regional leader who should have served as a good example for the community.’
“He is not the only governor who was sent to jail for bribery and for corruption.
“Former Riau Governor Rusli Zainal, the flamboyant and well-liked political figure, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for bribery and abuse of power in connection with two graft cases involving the 2012 National Games (PON) and the illegal issuance of forestry permits.
“’The defendant has been proven validly and convincingly guilty of corruption, consciously committing the crime[s], providing a bad example for the public,’ read the verdict.
“And history turned a new page in Indragiri Hilir when a metal bridge built by Rusli Zainal in 2002 when he was the Bupati, collapsed, erasing his legacy altogether.
“And when Najib Razak is mentioned, scores of people would state their disbelief that a serving Prime Minister can just walk away with RM2.6 billion in his private accounts, while an agency he headed is rigged with scandals and billions of dollars lost.
“This, they cannot comprehend.
“Malaysia is close to their hearts, so much so, that in the early 2000’s a Bupati of Bengkalis demonstrated in the streets carrying a Malaysian flag and calling for Riau to be annexed to Malaysia.
“His grievances against Jakarta was that the Javanese led-government did not care about its citizens in Riau, plowing the oil reserves and giving the only pittance to the province.
“That was then, and it was at the end of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s era.
“Today, no Bupati would demonstrate or urge the people of Riau to even pray to join Malaysia in a federation, as the winds of change hit both territories that are separated by the Malacca straits.”
Does Abdul Rahman, a Cabinet Minister in Malaysia and BN Strategic Communications Director, feel any shame at reading such a report about what the people of Riau think of Malaysia and our Prime Minister?
Let me tell Rahman Dahlan that he should prove he is a patriot by asking Najib to resign as Prime Minister if Najib is not prepared to clear Malaysia of the curse, infamy and ignominy of being ridiculed world-wide as a global kleptocracy because of 1MDB money-laundering scandal.
(Media Conference Statement in Parliament on Wednesday, March 29, 2017 at 12 noon)