AS EXPECTED, DAP is not taking Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang’s recent labelling of the party as “pro-communist” lightly, with one Malay party leader reminding the PAS president that lying is considered worse than murder for Muslims.
Hadi, whose animosity for DAP is no secret, made the damning claim yesterday (Oct 19) and pointed to three instances to prove his point.
These are bringing back former Communist Party of Malaya secretary-general Chin Peng’s ashes, attending an assembly held to honour communism and publishing comics with communist ideologies entailed.
While he did not mention particulars, vocal Penang DAP leader Prof P. Ramasamy previously said it was “cruel” that the former Barisan Nasional (BN) Government would not allow Chin Peng’s ashes to be brought back, while DAP has since distanced itself from a China propaganda comic that was produced by a former party member.
Branding Hadi’s claims as “slander”, DAP central executive committee member Sheikh Umar Bahgarib Ali recalled how Prophet Nabi Muhammad was similarly pelted with various slanders during his mission to uphold social justice.
“Unfortunately, PAS today is playing the same role as (these) slanderers, just as Nabi was slandered by his enemies,” Sheikh Umar said in a statement today.
“That is the PAS of today: no contents, policies are nowhere to be found (and) even their states don’t have much,” he added. “All they have is a weapon to spread slander.”
As such, the Johor DAP vice-chairman urged voters in the upcoming 15th General Elections (GE15) to reject both UMNO-BN and PAS over their “corruption and slanders.”
“I wish to remind the voters: in addition to fighting the politics of bribery and corruption that is heavily involved in UMNO-BN leaders, the people must also reject the politics of defamation that is now increasingly becoming the blood and flesh of PAS.
He added: “If UMNO-BN is ruining Malay politics through corruption, then PAS is ruining the Malays with a culture of defamation.”
“Destruction”
Sheikh Umar further claimed that both these political models will lead Malaysia towards the path of “destruction” and cause both the Malays and the country, in general, to lag far behind other countries.
Corruption, he explains, “destroys” the economy, while the culture of slander “destroys” civilisations.
“Isn’t Hadi ashamed to see the neighboring countries that are developing rapidly in tandem with various economic and ethical aspects of their people?” he asked.
Netizens, on the other hand, slammed Hadi’s “selective memory”, pointing out that BN leaders from component party MCA previously held meetings with the Chinese Communist Party, which is currently ruling China:
Others also pointed out that former foreign minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein previously labelled China as Malaysia’s “big brother”, which critics had argued implied Malaysia was a “puppet” to a foreign power.
Some had a field day as well after one of Hadi’s social media posters on the matter was edited so that the #TolakDAP hashtag was removed and it featured just Hadi’s face and the “pro-Communist” label.
Meanwhile, DAP vice-chairman Nga Kor Ming remarked that the “devil” will always slander the party during election season.
“When PAS fails, they resort to dirty tactics by uttering imbecilic slanders. I’m fed up,” news portal Malaysiakini quoted the incumbent Teluk Intan MP as saying.
DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng, on the other hand, asked why Hadi did not object to caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s decision to appoint a special envoy to China since Hadi was so “anti-communist”.
“Why didn’t he disapprove of our links with communist-led Vietnam?” the former finance added, according to Free Malaysia Today (FMT). – Oct 20, 2022
Main photo credit: Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang
