FORMER prime minister (PM) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should prove that he is not a desperate politician who would not mind stoking religious and extremist sentiments by naming and proving his claims that a DAP minister had once asked for the Home Ministry to settle the Jill Ireland case out of court.
The fact is that none of the six DAP ministers during the Bersatu president’s stint as the home minister from 2018-2020 had made such a request to Muhyiddin, according to DAP chairman and former finance minister Lim Guan Eng.
“Muhyiddin’s silence so far to my challenge to name the DAP minister concerned and provide proof that the DAP minister asked for the case to be settled out of court testifies unequivocally that Muhyiddin is openly lying,” Guan Eng pointed out in a media statement.
“DAP ministers are disciplined, busy and focused on their respective ministerial portfolios, and would neither intrude nor interfere in matters outside their jurisdiction.”
Above all else, Guan Eng said the decision and authority to proceed or not with the Jill Ireland case rests with the then attorney-general (AG) Tommy Thomas.
“Thomas has always upheld his statutory duty to act independently and is more than capable to decide on such cases on his own without direction from any party,” stressed the Bagan MP.
“Muhyiddin is making up stories to chant the mantra ini semua salah DAP to win Muslim votes in the upcoming state elections across six states. By continuing to fabricate falsehoods and relying on racist and extremist rhetoric, Muhyiddin has shown himself to be an irresponsible leader unfit for the high office of PM.”
According to Guan Eng, this is not the first time that Muhyiddin is making a false claim against DAP leaders without any evidence.
“Recently, the PN chairman had tried to distract and divert attention from his corruption trial by claiming that I had cancelled the tax-exempt status of Yayasan Albukhary when I was serving as finance minister from 2018-2020. Muhyiddin’s claims are false,” asserted Guan Eng.
“PM Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had publicly repudiated Muhyiddin claims against me in Parliament as false and stressing that neither the minister nor the Finance Ministry officials had issued any cancellation of Yayasan Albukhary’s tax-exempt status.”
Added Guan Eng: “Despite being unable to show proof to back his claims, Muhyiddin refuses to withdraw and apologise for his false allegations. I am suing Muhyiddin for defamation.” – May 19, 2023
