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Police should investigate the March 16  “phantom election advert” in all Chinese press on Abdullah as “modern-day Justice Bao” and confessing that the BN government was “corrupt and rotten to the very core” and whether MCA and Gerakan election victories were  because of the  BIG LIE of the “phantom adverts”   Media Conference Statement - at the Petaling Jaya Central Police Station (Section 8) by Lim Kit Siang (Petaling Jaya, Friday): I have lodged a police report at the Petaling Jaya Central Police Station asking for police investigations into the March 16  “phantom election advert” in all Chinese press on Abdullah as “modern-day Justice Bao” and confessing that the Barisan National government was “corrupt and rotten to the very core” and whether MCA and Gerakan election victories were  because of the  BIG LIE of the “phantom adverts”. My police report reads: “On the fourth day of the 2004 general election, i.e. 16th March 2004, a   full-page advertisement  was taken out in all the Chinese newspapers with the Barisan Nasional logo describing the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as ‘modern-day Justice Bao’ and confessing that the government was  ‘corrupt and rotten to the core…with no aspect of life untainted by corruption’, that ‘down the years, only Pak Lah dare to declare an all-out war against corruption, and that he is just and stern like Justice Bao’  The advertisement ended with the Barisan Nasional  pledge  to ‘Defend the People’ by ensuring  ‘a clean and transparent’ nation for the people and future generations.  (attached the advertisement in Nanyang Siang Pao) “In Parliament on Wednesday  (2nd June), the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz denied that the government or the Barisan Nasional had anything to do with the March 16, 2004 ‘BN corrupt and rotten to the very core’ advertisement in all the Chinese newspapers.   This is reported by Malaysiakini June 3, 2004, as follows: Nazri: BN not behind 'gov't corrupt and rotten' ad Barisan Nasional (BN) was not behind a controversial election advertisement which denounced the previous government as being ‘corrupt and rotten’ while praising Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday that ‘anonymous sources’ were responsible for the advertisement published in Chinese newspapers in the run-up to the March 21 polls. The full-page advertisement, which featured a BN logo, stated that the government was ‘corrupt and rotten to the core... with no aspect of life untainted by corruption’. It added that along the years, only Abdullah had the tenacity to declare war against corruption and he is just like Justice Bao - a Chinese legendary figure synonymous with justice and integrity. The advertisement ended with BN pledging to ‘defend the people’ by ensuring a clean and transparent system of governance. ‘Flip-flop’ stand The issue was first raised by Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang last week when debating the motion to thank the royal address. He questioned the government’s stand on corruption in view of the royal address claiming that corruption was not prevalent in the country. (The royal address, which is read by the Yang d-Pertuan Agong when Parliament comes into a new session, is prepared by the Prime Minister’s Department.) Lim said the ‘flip-flop’ stand by the government was an attempt to justify its low-keyed action against corruption despite its strong rhetoric earlier. Brandishing a copy of the advertisement, the opposition leader asked why the government was changing its take on corruption - from prevalent to not prevalent in the royal address. Talking to the press this morning, Lim urged the police to investigate the "phantom advertisement" as it had cast serious doubts on the legitimacy of the massive victory won BN in the polls In the dark In his ministerial winding-up speech yesterday, Nazri said the government’s stand on corruption remained the same and he cited the recently launched national integrity plan as an example. As for the advertisement, he said BN was in the dark over the matter and none of its component parties were involved. "We are for press freedom. We can’t control what is published in the newspapers. The election advertisement was not published upon the instruction of any political party," said the minister, who oversees parliamentary affairs. Met outside the House later, Nazri told reporters that BN would not investigate who was responsible for the advertisement. "We have won with a big majority. Why investigate?" he said. In another development, the minister spurned Lim’s call to debate the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) 2003 annual report which was tabled in the House on Monday. "The report has over 300 pages, I don’t believe all the MPs have read the Suhakam report given that our sitting schedule is so tight. No point in debating it if the MPs haven’t read it. How to debate it, only you can debate," he told Lim. http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/2004060300115877.php “According to the latest Nielsen Media Research, the five Chinese newspapers of Sin Chew, Nanyang, China Press, Kwong Wah and Kuang Ming have a total readership of some 2.8 million readers in Malaysia. “It would appear that Malaysia has not only ‘phantom voters’ and ‘phantom citizens’ but now ‘phantom election advertisements’ as well. “The police should investigate what are the offences which had been committed under the Penal Code, the Printing Presses and Publications Act, the election laws, among others, and in particular to establish whether the recent landslide Barisan Nasional election victory particularly among the MCA and Gerakan Ministers, MPs, State Exco members and State Assembly members were all because of a BIG LIE in the full-page ‘phantom election advertisements’ on Abdullah as ‘modern-day Justice Bao’ and  confessing to the BN government as “corrupt and rotten to the very core’”! Nazri’s denial of authorization or knowledge of the Barisan Nasional for the “Abdullah as Justice Bao & BN government corrupt and rotten to the very core” advertisement in all the Chinese newspapers on March 16 has raised grave questions about the legitimacy of the Barisan Nasional electoral victory, particularly those of MCA and Gerakan candidates in view of the exclusive readership of the “phantom election adverts” by the Chinese-reading community. In fact, the shocker of the “phantom election adverts” on “Abdullah as Justice Bao” and confessing that  the BN government was  “corrupt and rotten to the very core” has also raised questions about the authencity and legitimacy of all full-page election advertisements bearing the Barisan Nasional logo in the Chinese newspapers, such as the second “Abdullah as Justice Bao” advertisement  on 17th March with his  photograph with the pledge “to reduce red tape and promote integrity and transparency”; the third “Abdullah as Justice Bao” advertisement that Abdullah’s ”hand will not weaken” in the all-out campaign against corruption;  the   full-page advertisement on 19th March pledging “fair treatment for mother-tongue education” and that “all educational issues must be resolved swiftly, including the problem of teacher shortage in Chinese primary schools, which should not be politicized”. The  integrity, credibility and legitimacy of all Barisan Nasional advertisements or those bearing the Barisan Nasional logo and the photograph of Abdullah which appeared in all language print media – as well as electronic media –have all been called into question. These BN election advertisements would have cost tens of millions of ringgit, and bring them to close to RM100 million for all Barisan Nasional advertising in the recent general election. The police should extend its investigations into all the Barisan Nasional general election advertisements or those bearing the BN logo, to ascertain who must bear direct responsibility for the  ‘’phantom election advertisements” which had been fraudulently foisted on the 10 million voters in the last general election, without the authority or even knowledge of the Barisan Nasional, the source of their funding and the motives and consequences of  such a massive  “phantom election advertisement” scam. (4/6/2004) * Lim Kit Siang, Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Member of Parliament for Ipoh Timor & DAP National Chairman