Tun Faisal: ‘Pakatan sympathiser’ Awani ‘worse than TV3’

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 — An Umno delegate today accused news channel Astro Awani as being Pakatan Harapan (PH) sympathisers, calling it “worse than TV3” as he called for party members to turn to “pro-Umno media” instead.

According to Federal Territories delegate Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz, speaking at Umno’s general assembly here, the news channel is seen as acting as PH’s mouthpiece by distorting news to court support for the new government.

Tun Faisal, formerly the director of Putrajaya's now-disbanded propaganda outfit Special Affairs Department (Jasa), blamed media critical of the past administration for Umno’s loss at the 14th general election.

He named Awani, owned by media and broadcasting giant Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd, as one of them.

“Winning is the name of the game. But there are some media out there, they distort the news,” he said when debating the president’s policy speech.

“Like Awani for example. They’ve become worse than TV3,” he added, referring to the TV channel owned by Barisan Nasional-friendly Media Prima Bhd.

Tun Faisal cited as example Awani’s coverage of the planned enforcement of the Sales and Services Tax (SST), which he suggested was deliberately skewed to favour the regime over the previous Goods and Services Tax (GST).

“They showed the wrongly calculated figures as if the SST was less expensive than the GST,” he said.

Awani ran a primer on the SST in the months before its implementation in September where it showed an infographic to explain the tax system.

In the infographic, Awani’s calculations purported that the sales tax would reduce consumer goods prices compared to the GST, the consumption tax system introduced by the Najib administration.

The GST, while more transparent, has led to prices shooting up. It was seen as among the factors that sparked Datuk Seri Najib Razak and BN’s downfall.

At the Umno AGM today, Tun Faisal called for the overthrow of the PH government, which he described as “evil” and “cruel”.

The Umno Youth leader said the party must use any means necessary to combat PH’s propaganda and endear voters to Umno.

“We have to ensure the grassroots receive the messages espoused by top leaders, only then we can strengthen the fight to overthrow this cruel government,” he said.