KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27 — Putrajaya’s concocted “fairy-tale stories” of an alleged plot “topple the government” via a New Year’s eve rally has exposed its inability to adapt to a more vocal citizenry, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang said today.
Instead of learning to accept the emergence of increasingly outspoken Malaysians who have been empowered by the emergence of the Internet and social media, Lim suggested that Putrajaya chose to manufacture a purported revolt to mask its own failings.
“... if there are Malaysians who want to demonstrate their grievances and opposition to the string of price hikes, whether sugar, petrol, power or toll, the government must accept such human rights of freedom of expression without tarring them with the brush of being anti-national elements or traitors,” Lim said in a statement today.
Denying that Pakatan Rakyat parties were involved in any such undertaking, the Gelang Patah MP also criticised both Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and Cabinet member Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek for alarming the public with what the allegations.
“The whole ‘topple government’ caper was started by of all persons the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar who should have shown greater professionalism and gravitas instead of shocking the country ten days ago...” he said in a statement today.
Lim also said Ahmad had exacerbated the situation by adding an allegation that such a rally was “to divert the people’s attention from the lies spread by the opposition after failing to capture Putrajaya in the May 5 general election”.
“But nobody really believes that there was such a New Year’s Eve ‘plot’. Neither the Pakatan Rakyat nor the DAP are in any way involved with such New Year’s Eve ‘plots’,” Lim continued.
On Christmas Eve, police arrested the leader of an anti-price hike movement over a planned rally at Dataran Merdeka on December 31 and an alleged plot to overthrow the government.
Yesterday, the owner of a Facebook page was also picked up by police for allegedly inciting the public to participate in demonstrations this Dec 31, to topple the government.
Since September, Putrajaya has embarked on aggressive cost-cutting measures after pressure grew for it to rein in a chronic budget deficit that traces back to the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and which has left Malaysia’s national debt at just below a critical legal ceiling.
It has pledged to bring its overspending down from around 5 per cent of gross domestic product now to 3 per cent by 2015.
Among others, it has reduced fuel subsidies, removed price control for sugar, allowed an increase in electricity tariffs and confirmed the introduction of the GST all within the space of four months.
