KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 — DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin should resign immediately after giving inaccurate information twice in Parliament.
Lim said that while the bullying of 18-year-old Sabahan student Veveonah Mosibin has not been resolved, Zahidi also went on to announce the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia’s (KKMM) intention to charge a service fee of 20 cents for purchases under RM1,000 on e-commerce platforms and an additional 20 cents for every subsequent RM1,000.
However, the statement was refuted by the ministry itself, which denied that discussions on the surcharge took place after negative response from the public.
“He repeatedly provided false information, likes to blame others for covering up his own failures and bullying the complainant, even though the complainant was an 18-year-old university student.
“With KKMM's statement, does this mean that Zahidi made a false statement? Again he violated his own suggestion.
“As Zahidi has lost public credibility, it is necessary for someone more competent and capable to replace him as deputy minister,” Lim said in a statement today.
Yesterday, Zahidi expressed his desire to meet with Veveonah after drawing public ire for alleging the Sabah student had staged a scene of her taking exams on a tree.
He then accused DAP of politicising the issue to allegedly divert public attention from the graft charges against Lim.
Zahidi has come under fire for suggesting Veveonah was an attention seeker and had faked having to take an online examination atop a tree in rural Sabah due to poor internet connectivity, an allegation he made in the senate last week.
The Padang Besar MP from Umno has since apologised and claimed to have received the information from Kudat MP Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri, a Bersatu leader and the deputy finance minister.
Zahidi also defended himself against allegations of cyberbullying.
Yesterday, KKMM denied holding any discussions on plans to impose an additional charge of 20 sen for purchases costing between RM200 and RM1,000 on online platforms.
In a statement, the ministry refuted Zahidi’s comments, after he told reporters that such discussions were ongoing and that the measure was to raise a special fund to assist the B40 group, including to improve communications infrastructure in the rural areas.
