RANTAU, April 10 — Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Rantau candidate Dr S. Streram explained that anaesthesiologists do not randomly sedate people, but joked that he would make an exception for Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
The former prime minister commented snidely yesterday about Dr Streram’s medical background, which the latter said suggested ignorance.
“Perhaps Najib does not understand what I do. It is not my job to simply put people to sleep but I would rather put BN leaders like Najib to sleep,” he said in jest during a press conference in Kampung Sega.
Najib yesterday had in a ceramah at Kampung Kanchong here poked fun at Dr Streram, while asking voters to reject him.
“Dr ‘cucuk’ only put people to sleep, so everyone will fall asleep,” he said, using a Malay term for injection in connection with Dr Streram’s role as an anaesthesiologist.
Dr Streram also said he was not interested in character assassination after his Barisan Nasional rival Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan was accused of having hidden wealth.
Instead, he suggested that Mohamad or commonly called Tok Mat drew attention to the matter when the latter explained the controversy from 2008 when he used a money changer to transfer RM10 million abroad.
“We have campaigned for 11 days already. Did we start any character assassination on anyone? We only respond to issues that Tok Mat had brought up himself.
“He must explain why that has happened, that is all,” he said
With two days left until polling, Dr Streram also reassured Rantau’s Malay community that he has their best interests at heart.
Umno and PAS have told voters that electing a non-Muslim lawmaker would further erode the Malay-Muslim position in the country.
Dr Streram dismissed this and said he would not marginalise any community if elected.
He stressed that neither he nor other communities have challenged the special privileges of the Malay that are enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
The by-election was triggered after the Special Election Court annulled Mohamad’s uncontested victory from the general election after concluding Dr Streram was unlawfully prevented from submitting his nomination papers.
