DAP Selangor expresses its full support for its Chairman Tony Pua in his pursuit for answers and accountability over the 1MDB saga which has now dominated the political discussion not only here in Malaysia but also in the global arena.
The DAP is committed to upholding democratic governance and the rule of law. It is therefore the duty of all its elected representatives to speak up without fear or favour on behalf of the people of Malaysia over issues of concern to our nation and we call upon the Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak to respect that.
Selangor DAP Chairman Tony Pua has been at the forefront of the 1MDB saga from its begining and he has as a consequence made various calls against many including the Prime Minister himself for answers. There is no doubt that further investigations into the matter led to one revelation after another resulting in which the matter gained significant traction.
Instead of responding to the questions raised, the Prime Minister initiated a suit against Tony for defamation, making it the first time in the history of Malaysia that a sitting Prime Minister sued a Member of Parliament.
We are in the process of defending that suit and we will fight it till the very end.
Despite the threat of consequences which could follow from the suit, the battle went on.
More recently Tony has been barred from leaving the country and it is said that there are investigations for offences under S124B of the Penal Code under way. This section makes it an offence for anyone who directly or indirectly commits any activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy.
An offence under this section of the Penal Code carries with it a term of imprisonment which may extend to 20 years. It is an offence which carries consequences most serious in nature.
As DAP Parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said on Wednesday last week, “it is mad to think that exposes on scandals and wrongdoing involving government-linked entities or national leaders could be treated as an offence”. With this we agree.
The Prime Minister declared sometime ago that he would turn Malaysia into the best democracy in the world. Those were words which were then laced with hope but what we see happening in Malaysia today is the complete opposite. We see the deterioration of the democratic process and efforts made to instill fear into and intimidate those who rise in opposition against the government.
The media which has played am important role in the matter has not been spared either.
The suspension of the Edge which carried detailed reports on the debt-ridden 1MDB for 3 months sends out clear signals of what is yet to come. It is without a doubt a most severe strike against press freedom which is most necessary in times like these where information becomes critical to the debate.
Whilst the Home Ministry has given reasons for the suspension, we are of the view that those reasons are insufficient and inadequate to support such drastic action against the Edge. It is our view that if there be information which is wrongly carried, then the correct approach would be for the correct information to be published as a response or action taken through the courts to have the matter dealt with.
This is more so where the publisher of the information is prepared to defend its report and the accuracy of the facts upon which it is based.
We gather here today to express our solidarity and support for both our Chairman and the Edge. We denounce all forms of intimidation brought to bear upon all elected representatives and the media who carry out their duties in exposing wrongs committed by the government and we call upon the Prime Minister to respect the democratic process.
The Prime Minister and his government have all the resources. He should respond to criticism against him with facts. He certainly cannot and must not muscle his way into silencing his critics.