Media statement by Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 6^th June 2011: 

Is Najib ready and prepared when Tahrir Square comes to Malaysia?

The wind of change in Malaysia continues to blow strong and hard 39 months after the 308 “political tsunami” – this is the most important message from the weekend’s PAS party elections.

Mukriz Mahathir, one of the aspirants for the highest Umno leadership position when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak stumbles and falls, said "Congratulations to the DAP and PKR for succeeding to influence PAS to the extent that only those aligned to them (no ulama) were elected as PAS vice-presidents and even the deputy president”.

I say to Mukriz:”Congratulations for your wild, baseless and irrational comments as it is the best demonstration and proof to all Malaysians, particularly to the young generation of all races, that there is nobody in UMNO and Barisan Nasional who could live up to their aspirations for change to make up for Malaysia’s lost decades in building an united, just, democratic, progressive, prosperous and competitive nation.

Recently on World Youth Day, Najib told a crowd of 8,000 youths – which was exaggerated more than one hundred-fold into a million-strong gathering - that “if in Egypt one million youths gathered in Tahrir Square to change that country’s leadership... in Malaysia, one million youths gathered to defend Putrajaya”.

The question Najib has to answer is whether he is really ready and prepared when Tahrir Square comes to Malaysia. That question applies to other Umno wannabes like Mukriz as well.

The latest news from Egypt in post-Tahrir Square era is the Cairo criminal court sentence of Egypt's former finance minister Yussef Boutros Ghali in absentia to 30 years in prison on charges of corruption and embezzlement of public money.

Ghali was awarded 15 years for squandering public money by using cars held in customs and 15 years for abusing his position to benefit from ministry funds.

He is among several ministers of the Hosni Mubarak regime to be brought to justice in post-revolution Egypt which is now investigating charges of corruption on officials of the previous government, including the ousted president. Former interior minister Habib al-Adly was earlier sent to 12 years in prison on corruption charges.

Are Najib and UMNO/BN leaders prepared when Tahrir Square comes to Malaysia?

Najib had called on a million youths in Malaysia to defend Putrajaya.

The Prime Minister will be sorely mistaken if he thinks there are one million youths in Malaysia to defend Putrajaya to continue as the seat of federal power of an undemocratic, high-handed, corrupt and decadent regime.

I have confidence that there will be one million youths in Malaysia to defend Putrajaya ala Tahir Square – not to defend Najib, Umno and Barisan Nasional but freedom, democracy and political change in Malaysia by democratic and constitutional means.

*Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary Leader & MP for Ipoh Timor