Media statement by Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, 16^th June 2012: 

Nobody surprised that no Minister dare to raise in Cabinet yesterday that Najib is “the Emperor with no clothes” in his wild and reckless allegation

Nobody is surprised that no Minister dare to ask the Cabinet at its weekly meeting yesterday to openly apologise for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s wild, baseless and reckless allegation that Bersih 3.0 rally was a coup attempt by the Opposition to topple the government.

Otherwise, the Barisan Nasional Government and the Najib Cabinet would not have suffered such a grave credibility gap that the sixth Prime Minister and his Ministers are increasingly become the butt of jokes of Malaysians, whether for their words or deeds, in a manner which had not befallen the Cabinets of the previous five Prime Ministers.

Najib’s Ministers will privately agree that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein have not been able to produce an iota of evidence to substantiate such a preposterous allegation, despite public and dubious backing by three former Inspectors-General of Police, Tun Hanif Omar, Tan Sri Rahim Noor and Tan Sri Musa Hassan, and that the last nail for the coffin of such a preposterous allegation was driven home in Parliament on Wednesday by none other than the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz who could not produce any evidence in reply to my question specifically asking for proof for such an allegation.

But in public, no Minister will dare to say that Najib is behaving as “the Emperor with no clothes” in his wild, reckless and baseless allegation that Bersih 3.0 is a coup attempt by the Opposition to topple the government by force on April 28.

It is most unfortunate that Najib had failed to make use of the first week of Parliament to offer an olive branch to the hundreds of thousands of Malaysians regardless of race, religion, class, region, age or gender who came out peacefully in Kuala Lumpur on April 28 for a common national cause to underline the Prime Minister’s own concern and support for clean elections.

Instead, in the first three days of Parliament this week, the Najib Ministers and their backbench cheerleaders continued to demonise and antagonize the hundreds of thousands of peaceful Bersih 3.0 protestors, particularly with Nazri’s canard that “salt and mineral water bottles” could topple the Barisan Nasional government.

Najib should realize that he is doing himself and the Barisan Nasional a grave disservice in continuing to countenance irrational and baseless attacks on the Bersih 3.0 rally, and that he himself, UMNO and Barisan Nasional would have to pay a heavy price for such irresponsible politicking in the next general election, whenever it is held.

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