DAP strongly condemns the false accusation by MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai that DAP sowed the seeds of racial discord in the Bersih 4 rally. He blamed the DAP over the incident where two Bersih 4 participants stomped on the images of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and the PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.
This is a big lie as the DAP was not, in anyway, responsible for the incident and we do not condone such act. DAP Parliamentary Leader, Lim Kit Siang had openly deplored the incident at a media conference in Penang yesterday.
While Liow Tiong Lai was quick to join the chorus of UMNO leaders to use the incident as a racial issue to attack the Bersih 4 rally, why did he not utter a single word when a group of anti-Bersih protesters poured red paints on Maria Chin Abdullah’s effigy?
By doing so, he is abetting UMNO to turn Bersih 4 into a racial issue and to divert the attention of the focus of the rally. The picture-stomping incident was an isolated case done by some overzealous participants, beyond the control of the organizer.
While the act of picture-stomping was inappropriate, it was definitely not the case of Chinese against Malay leaders. It was an expression of deep frustration among the people against a scandalous Prime Minister!
Hundreds of thousands of Malaysians rallied peacefully over 34 hours in Kuala Lumpur. There were many touching moments throughout the rally and it brought out the best of inter-racial and inter-religious harmony among Malaysian society. The harmonious scenes at the Bersih 4 rally were something that UMNO, MCA and MIC can’t achieve all these years.
Why did Liow Tiong Lai fail to acknowledge the overwhelming majority of the participants who behaved in the most civil manner and turned a deaf ear to the clarion call by them to demand for transparency and accountability over the 1MDB scandal and the RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib’s personal account?
I want to remind Liow Tiong Lai that the “hatred” towards the Barisan Nasional government under Najib is not DAP’s fault. It is Najib’s own doing as the people are not stupid to believe that someone will just donate RM2.6 billion into his personal account without any strings attached.
MCA under the leadership of Liow Tiong Lai is becoming increasingly irrelevant as he failed to understand the pulse of the Malaysian society, in particular the Chinese community. If he wants to save the MCA from becoming obsolete, instead of saving his own ministerial position, perhaps he should meet up with his former MCA President, Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, to understand the reason why he attended the Bersih 4 rally in Perth and not to pin the blame on DAP!