THAT PAS lawmaker Dr Siti Mastura Muhammad has the guts to take on three DAP heavyweights in a legal suit against her – when the norm is for her peers in the Islamist party to publicly apologise for their purported slip of the tongue – is nothing short of jaw-dropping.
It is unsure if the bespectacled, soft-spoken first-term Kepala Batas MP who has a doctorate degree from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) knows what she is getting herself into.
The reality is that she’d be toe-to-toe against some of the most formidable, legally-sound leaders the country has ever seen.
Siti Mastura will face off with DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang, chairman Lim Guan Eng and six-term Seputeh MP Teresa Kok (who is also DAP’s vice-chairman) after a court-advised mediation failed.
The trio had sued Siti Mastura for alleging that they were related to Communist Party of Malaya leader Ong Boon Hua – popularly known as Chin Peng – and Singapore’s first prime minister and the People’s Action Party (PAP) co-founder Lee Kuan Yew (LKY).
The 35-year-old Penang State PAS Muslim Council deputy head had made such claim during her 46-minute speech to PAS’ Muslimat (women) and young women wing members from Kemaman PAS ahead of the Kemaman parliamentary by-election in November last year. She even confused the surnames of the Lims with the late Lee.
It was previously reported that Siti Mastura had in her statement of defence claimed that her remarks were based on legitimate “facts” contained in a handbook from UMNO which she said was a reliable source.
The handbook aside, it would be interesting to watch whether she could present scientific evidence that the trio are biologically related to the communist leader and the founding premier of modern Singapore in court. Failing which, her legal battle could be doomed from the get go.
But even before a court date is fixed, netizens already wasted no time lambasting Siti Mastura for what they felt to be a losing battle on her part.
In fact, Malaysiakini subscriber Anonymous 11223355 who is pessimistic about Siti Mastura’s chances “wrote: “Mastura, let face the reality you are a novice in the political scene as compared to on LGE and LKS.
“I am very sure you will lose in the defamation suit …. Don’t be a sacrificial lamb on behalf of your party leaders who are very selfish. You just need to apologise openly and save your easy earn money as an MP. This because you are such a low-class MP without much intelligence.”
Another subscriber “PurpleDragon2199” opined: “Siti should apologise openly and agree not to spread lies in future …coming from PAS this is ridiculous.”
Siti Mistura’s guts were also capitalised by pro-Pakatan Harapan (PH)n influencer CIKY🅰️NIE (@lady_bugg11) who reckoned that the PAS MP may break the record “for the highest legal suit loss in the Malaysian history”
MP PAS Mastura akan di saman paling tinggi sejarah malaysia. pic.twitter.com/U5dfCYHJfg
— CIKY🅰️NIE (@lady_bugg11) May 15, 2024
Recall that in February last year, PAS Perak commissioner Razman Zakaria who is also the Gunung Semanggol state assemblyman had apologised to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim over a slur relating to the latter’s sexual orientation.
This came after Anwar filed a defamation suit against Razman. Perhaps Siti Mastura can take a leaf from her PAS colleague to save time, money and embarrassment for the Islamist party. – May 17, 2024
Main image credit: Astro Awami
