KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 — It was Putrajaya’s failure to act swiftly on the debacle over Teresa Kok’s Chinese New Year video that led to Thursday's chicken slaughter protest, a former Cabinet minister has suggested.

Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin said the government has been dragging its feet in investigating the case despite the uproar it has caused, forcing the angry public to take matters into their own hands.

“Who is at fault here if not the government that lacks the sense of urgency or political will to use its powers and put a stop to the issue from the very beginning.

“Instead, it lets the issue prolong, allowing room for action and reactions that threaten national security and racial harmony,” the former minister wrote in his blog Zamkata yesterday.

He added that in such a situation, it is hard to stop public emotion from flaring up, or stop the public from overreacting to the government’s own weakness.

When bristling from such emotional anger, Zainuddin said, Malaysians would likely feel the need to take matters into their own hands.

“Are they wrong?” he asked.

Kok has come under fire for producing an 11-minute satirical Chinese New Year view that lampoons current affair issues in Malaysia.

The Seputeh MP is currently under police investigation for the video, which Muslim groups have claimed is anti-Islam and anti-Malay.

In the video, the MP plays the role of a feng shui talk show host interviewing three panellists on their predictions for the lunar new year.

Among others, the panellists in the clip joked about a variety of hot button topics such as education, the kidnap of a Taiwanese tourist in Sabah last year and others.

Last Thursday, a group calling itself the “Council of Islamic NGOs” slaughtered live chickens in their protest against a satirical Chinese New Year video by Kok, after which they proceeded to smear the blood on a banner with images of DAP and PKR lawmakers.

The banner also warned of “nightmares” of May 13, 1969, in reference to the bloody racial riots of that year.

The group also reportedly incited physical violence against Kok, offering members of the public cash rewards to assault her.

The six Muslim groups alleged to have been involved in the protest are Pertubuhan Permuafakatan Majlis Ayahanda Malaysia (Permas), Pertubuhan Kebajikan Islam dan Dakwah (Pekida), Pertubuhan Kebajikan Insan Bakti Malaysia (Perkib), Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia (PPIM) and Martabat Jalinan Muhibbah Malaysia (MJMM).

Zainuddin said the entire debacle is clear proof of the current administration’s weakness, as regardless what the opposition does, government action has never been swift enough.

He urged all pro-government NGOs to stop their demonstrations, saying that behaving like government mercenaries would only further reveal the weaknesses of the Najib administration.

“We have a government that has successfully postponed one problem after another, but has failed to stop them entirely... to a point that even sodomy is no longer considered a moral wrong

but an accepted social behaviour that the court endorses from time to time.

“Malaysians should not feel shocked or disappointed if the BN government does not take action in Teresa Kok’s case. Just wait to hear the A-G’s rationale,” Zainuddin said.