Dr M steals thunder from Guan Eng at reformasi event
Lim Guan Eng misses chance to speak after Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s impromptu speech.
SHAH ALAM: Dr Mahathir Mohamad stole the thunder from Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng with his unexpected appearance at a reformasi convention today.
Lim was originally scheduled to speak at the event at around 1pm.
But it was former prime minister Mahathir, who was not invited to the “Konvensyen Reformis” in the first place, who ended up giving a speech.
Speaking to FMT, a convention committee member, who did not want to be named, said Mahathir had asked for permission to address the crowd.
“Lim came this morning. But the presence of Mahathir, who was not officially invited to the event and who asked to speak, affected the timing.
“Lim’s schedule was very tight. He had other engagements planned afterwards, so he had to leave.”
He said an impromptu speech by Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin, who was not scheduled to speak either, also delayed any chances of Lim addressing the participants.
Besides Lim, other speeches planned for the convention also did not go on as planned.
According to the itinerary, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president Muhyiddin Yassin and Parti Warisan Sabah head Shafie Apdal were supposed to speak at 3pm.
However, neither of them showed up.
Another person absent but who was scheduled to speak was DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang.
Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram
However, Kit Siang did send a speech that was read out by reformasi veteran Ronnie Liu.