PUTRAJAYA, Nov 24 ― Umno Youth today described the insensitive action of PKR vice-presidents Tian Chua and Nurul Izzah Anwar in organising and meeting with Jacel H. Kiram as bidding goodbye to the Sabahans and their support for the PKR.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said apart from hurting the feelings of the Sabahans, the meeting between the PKR leader and the daughter of former Sulu militant group leader who led the militant intrusion in Lahad Datu in 2013 was also seen as an insult to the deeds and contributions of the security forces personnel who perished in the tragedy.

“In this case, I see them as having committed a very insensitive action towards the people of Sabah, especially the victims, as well as the next-of-kin of security forces personnel who perished in the clash with the armed militants.

“I'm not sure what action should be taken against these two leaders, but I think the Sabahans should punish them using their support...the pictures speak for themselves and I think without doing anything, PKR has basically kissed a lot of Sabah votes goodbye.”

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Khairy said this in response to the disclosure made by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yesterday that Tian Chua, who is also Batu member of parliament (MP), was responsible in organising the meeting between Nurul Izzah and Jacel.

Ahmad Zahid was also reported as saying that, before this, Tian Chua had quietly arranged the meetings between PKR leaders and whom they referred to as the “Sulu Sultanate”, which supposedly wants to “reclaim” Sabah as its territory. 

Khairy said he hoped that the two PKR leaders would offer an apology to those whose feeling they had hurt, especially the next-of-kin of those who were killed in the intrusion tragedy, without trying to justify their actions.

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Nurul Izzah had allegedly apologised after the picture of her meeting with Jacel in Phillipine on Nov 9 went viral over the Internet, while Tian Chua denied being the mastermind of the meeting.

Meanwhile, Khairy, who is also Youth and Sports Minister, earlier witnessed the signing of cooperation agreement between the ministry and Nouvelles Visages (NV), which would see Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara (IKBN) trainees undergoing their industrial training at the cosmetic line company. ― Bernama