I was shocked by the first instalment of Ahmad Faizal Azumu interview with Malaysiakini where he defended seven dishonest, wild, and preposterous allegations of Hadi Awang against the DAP and me which the PAS President was unable to substantiate for six long months, showing that he was not a responsible, honest, and respected Islamic leader.

I was more shocked by the second instalment of Faizal Azumu interview as he was re-writing recent history where he not only denied the Sheraton Move political conspiracy in February 2020, but concocted the tale blaming DAP for wanting to topple Mahathir as Prime Minister of Pakatan Harapan government.

This could be seen by the following extracts from the interview with the Bersatu Deputy President:

“In your opinion, was the Sheraton Move necessary?

“Was there even a Sheraton move?

It was reported that there was.

“See, the reporting was wrong. We met at Sheraton (Hotel) as there was some movement by DAP leaders to topple Tun (Mahathir) as prime minister, despite Tun mentioning many times that he would leave after Apec.

“[The former prime minister said on several occasions that he would step down after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) in Kuala Lumpur in November 2020.]

“But there were moves to topple him then, so we called our friends saying, ‘Look, if there is a move to topple the prime minister, Umno should come in and support him as the government should stay’. That was what the meeting was about.”

This is the first time anybody has implicated the DAP in an effort to “topple” Mahathir as Prime Minister which led to the Sheraton Move political conspiracy, and I challenge Faizal Azumu to cite any instance in the 39 months between February 2020 and now where DAP was alleged to be involved in a plot to topple Mahathir as Prime Minister.

I also challenge Faizal Azumu to name names, as to which DAP leader or leaders were involved in the so-called plot to topple Mahathir as Prime Minister.

Faizal Azumu’s second instalment is also nefarious for his call on the Anwar unity government to stop its anti-corruption campaign when he asked whether food prices will reduce if “we arrest 80 ex-ministers and charge them daily”.

This shows the siege mentality of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) leaders who fear to be arrested and charged with corruption.

Faizal Azumu will be politically correct if he demands that the people’s economic problems are resolved while the anti-corruption drive continues, but he chose otherwise.

It is noteworthy that Faizal Azumu said “As a Muslim, I believe that when you ask Allah, Allah will give” in reference to Anwar’s premiership.

If so, why is Perikatan Nasional (PN) not responding to the Yang di Pertuan Agong’s numerous calls for political stability and national unity among the different races and religions in the country?

What is worse, the continued reliance of PN leaders on lies, falsehoods, and false news to further their political ends, at the price of polarising race and religious relations, undermining political stability, and inhibiting an economic recovery?

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Penang on Saturday, 27th May 2023)