MACHANG MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal is seemingly adamant not to let the threat on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim by some developed nations rest over Malaysia’s stand to rally behind Palestine in the Gaza conflict.
His exuberance is evident when he took the pain to consult former foreign ministers Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein (Sembrong MP) and Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah (Indera Mahkota MP) on the significance of “démarche” which in diplomatic term refers to a protest or objection to actions by a foreign government.
“They say that démarche is normal in diplomacy if a country disagrees or protests against our position,” he penned in a recent Facebook post.
“But to say until the level of a threat is too far-fetched according to them because this is nothing new for Malaysia which has steadfastly been defending Hamas, Palestine and criticising Israel. We just want to be sure what is the content of the demarche? Is it addressed to Anwar or Malaysia?”
Interestingly, the social media post by the Bersatu Youth chief attracted a comment from netizen Reem Karim who expressed surprise at the notion of Malaysia being threatened over its stand on Palestine.
“There has been no PM in the Malaysian history that has been threatened over the Palestinian issue … we didn’t hear of Indonesia receiving any threat as its ambassador addressed the United Nations (UN) in a hard and vocal manner on the matter,” wondered the netizen.
“Is our PMX (Anwar) pro-US? It’s also very much unheard of that other countries like even Turkey who are very critical over the Palestinian issue been threatened.”
Earlier, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal has hit out at Wisma Putra when he described the threat levelled at Anwar as being tantamount to an attempt to insult Malaysia’s sovereignty in defending its foreign policy.
“Malaysia is not a satellite country or vassal state to any party! If the US sent us a démarche because it is not satisfied with Malaysia recognising Hamas and defending the Palestinian sovereignty, then we should reciprocate with a similar démarche to the US and all countries that support Israel,” argued the former deputy national unity minister.
“We need to call their ambassadors (of countries that threaten Malaysia) to Wisma Putra to express our dismay that ceasefire and massacres are allowed in the name of Israel’s security! Show me the content of the démarche that contains elements of threat for surely everyone in Malaysia will stand up to defend our PM from such threat!”
Recall that Anwar has clarified on Oct 25 that the threats he spoke about during the Himpunan Malaysia Bersama Palestine gathering at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil for criticising the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza the night before came from some European MPs. – Nov 3, 2023
