KUALA LUMPUR: DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang has to make clear of his stand on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s controversial remarks made on the Bugis community, Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak said.
It was reported that the Pakatan Harapan pro-tem chairman had allegedly described the Bugis community as “pirates” in his attacks against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, during a small opposition rally in Petaling Jaya on Oct 14.
Salleh said Lim’s silence could be construed as a support for the controversial remark.
“Lim has to make clear of his stand on this issue, otherwise his silence will be viewed as tacit support for what Dr Mahathir had stated, and may be interpreted as what (former DAP member) ‘Superman’ Hew Kuan Yew said, which is about Lim using Dr Mahathir as a weapon to fight the Malays.
“If Lim wants to be taken seriously as (the pro-tem opposition pact) Pakatan Harapan’s prime minister-in-waiting, he cannot remain silent and continue to hide behind his Malay proxy,” Salleh said in his blog post.
He said Lim’s silence was in contrary to his usual prompt issuance of statements on any controversy and labeling them as “orchestrated by Umno”.
“This time, Lim is strangely silent regarding Dr Mahathir’s attack on the Bugis community despite all requests made for him to clarify his position as the de-facto Pakatan leader,” said Salleh.
Salleh also said the issue had gained extensive coverage by most of the Bahasa Malaysia, English and Chinese media following the rebuke by Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.
Selangor Council of the Royal Court secretary Hanafisah had said Dr Mahathir, had also directly insulted the genealogy and ancestry of the Selangor Sultanate which lineage is Bugis.
Apart from widespread protests by various parties, Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla became the latest figure demanding Dr Mahathir to apologise over his alleged derogatory remarks.
“Dr Mahathir’s letter to the Malaysian Ambassador in Indonesia saying that he was not trying to insult the entire Bugis community but only the Prime Minister (Najib), has not been accepted since it is not really an apology, but an excuse,” Salleh said.
Dr Mahathir had reiterated his stance that the statement made during the rally was not racial.
