Kit Siang: Adenan’s treatment of Nurul shameful, disgraceful
Adenan is so confident of winning at least 70 of the state seats on May 7 but blemishes and blot his image as a democrat and reformer.
The treatment of Lembah Pantai MP and PKR Vice-President Nurul Izzah Anwar, for example, was most shameful, disgraceful and unfitting of caretaker Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem’s “gentleman” persona, pointed out the DAP veteran.
He reminded that Adenan had publicly said that he would consider allowing Nurul into the state if she asked him “politely”. “This was what Nurul had done.”
“She found herself barred in Miri from entry into Sarawak.”
Lim confessed he couldn’t understand why Adenan was so afraid of Nurul that he was prepared to abandon his code of conduct as a gentleman. “This was another example of the schizophrenic character of the BN election campaign.”
If Adenan was so confident of winning at least 70 state seats on May 7, said Lim, he can’t understand why he must blemish and blot his image as a democrat and reformer to deny the people their democratic and legitimate constitutional rights. “After only eight days into the 11th Sarawak state election on May 7, BN was running the most schizophrenic election campaign in Malaysian election history.”
“It painfully reflects the confusion, ‘double vision’ and split personality of the BN Sarawak campaign.”
Another example was the reaction of PBB Deputy President Abang Johari Abang Openg who warned BN not to be lulled into a false sense of security by his (Lim’s) statement that DAP risks losing seven seats, said Lim who has been suspended from Parliament as Gelang Patah MP.
Abang Johari should not be accusing him of employing a “ploy”, continued Lim, but should instead direct his attack at Adenan. He stressed that was only taking the caretaker Sarawak chief minister seriously when the latter declared two days ago that BN would win at least 70 state seats in the May 7 polls.
This would leave at most 12 seats to be won by the Opposition, reckoned Lim. “Sarawak Opposition Chief Baru Bian predicts five seats for PKR.”
“That leaves only some five to seven seats for the DAP.”
The figures fit exactly the worst-case scenario for the Opposition described by Adenan. “That’s why I warned in Sarikei on Saturday night that DAP risked losing more than half of the 12 seats won in the 2011 state election.”
If he was wrong, said Lim, then it was Adenan who was wrong in publicly declaring that BN would win at least 70 state seats on May 7. “It’s an open secret however that BN Sarawak had embarked on an incessent and intensive strategy to eliminate or at least halve the DAP representation in the Sarawak Assembly.”
In fact, charged Lim, he had received disturbing reports that the money politics employed in some areas was on a scale which would put to shame past blatant abuses to win votes and seats. “The politics of fear and intimidation was also unprecedented.”
“The DAP candidate, Larry Asap, became a victim when he was warned not to enter and visit a kampung in the Bukit Goram constituency.”
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Adenan and BN were working very hard to achieve a worst-case scenario for DAP, warned Lim. “All DAP and Opposition supporters and voters must embark on full mobilisation in the last four days of election campaign.”