Zahid Unfit To Be Minister

Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi’s malicious lies and his refusal to apologise for spreading falsehood about me makes him unfit to be a Minister and proves UMNO’s rotten at its core

Last Friday, Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi accused me of having been previously arrested and charged in Singapore, and as a result was unable to become a Member of Parliament there. He further alleged that due to my good relations with certain authorities in Singapore, I was released and insinuated that the deal was for me to become a Singapore “agent” and infiltrate Malaysia.

I had immediately called for a retraction of the above baseless and malicious allegations, as well as a public apology within 24 hours. However, over the past 72 hours, I’ve heard only a pin-drop silence from the Minister, which not only makes him unfit to be a Minister but also proves that UMNO’s leadership is rotten at its very core.

Zahid Hamidi is unfit to be a Minister not only because of the complete lack of honesty and integrity, but also because it shows the failure of his Ministry’s military intelligence to be able to filter fact from fiction, hence raising concerns as to whether he will be able to fully protect our country from external threats.

Instead of answering to the rakyat on questions posed to him, the most senior ranking UMNO vice-president attempted to tarnish my reputation and insinuated repeatedly that I’m not loyal to this country and that I’m acting in the interest of another country. He even argued that if I should join the Territorial Reserve Army (Tentera Wataniah).

Let me just say that Zahid Hamidi has no right and is in no place to question my loyalty to Malaysia. If it were at all true that I had joined politics in Malaysia for personal interest or the interest of a foreign country, then surely it would have been easier for me to join a BN party like the MCA, which has a track record of producing top leaders charged for corruption and abuse of power. Instead, by joining an opposition party like the DAP, I’m only subjected to persistent threats and abuse, like the leaders before me who have been subjected to authoritarian punishments like the ISA.

Every person in this country demonstrates his or her loyalty differently, and not only through the Army. I’ve chosen this path to fight for the rights of the oppressed and the impoverished.

Is Zahid implying that all the BN Members of Parliament, nearly all of whom had not joined the Army less loyal to the country as well? That appears to be his thinking because he has said as much that the non-Malays of this country are less patriotic because they have not joined the Army. Despite the controversy over his slight on the minorities, he has refused to apologise.

As a result of the Minister’s refusal to apologise, I have instructed my lawyers today to proceed immediately to file a suit against Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for defamation and spreading malicious falsehood.