.jpg "Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng addresses reporters during a media conference in Cyberjaya February 17, 2020. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Shafwan Zaidon")
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 — The Works Ministry’s hasty apology to a minister who sustained injuries while cycling wreaked double standards, DAP leader Lim Guan Eng said today, citing the incident to accuse the Perikatan Nasional government of hypocrisy.
Lim, a former minister himself, said the Public Works Department’s (JKR) immediate public apology, and the subsequent move to repair the pothole implicated in the accident was yet another glaring proof of selective enforcement, which underpins PN rule.
This, he added, was an indication that this was a government that cares more about politicking and placating those in power, instead of caring for the people.
“PN has ended 2020 with another case of double-standards following the minor accident with a pothole in Banting involving Umno Minister Khairy Jamaluddin,” Lim said in a statement.
“JKR promptly repaired the pothole and apologised to the Minister. This has nothing to do with Khairy and we wish him early recovery from his minor injuries,” the DAP leader added.
“The issue is double-standards by JKR which apologised and acted immediately to repair the pothole when a Minister is involved but does not give a damn at all when the injured party is an ordinary rakyat.”
The ruling coalition was forced to defend itself against accusations of double standards again when the public began questioning why the government was quick to act on complaints raised by Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar.
Three days ago, the Umno minister had shared pictures of his cuts and bruises sustained after falling into a pothole and a ditch while cycling around Kampung Seri Cheeding in Banting, Selangor.
This prompted the Kuala Langat JKR branch to issue a public apology to the minister that very same day. The pothole was reported to have been fixed the next day.
The incident has since drawn public criticism and accusations of selective enforcement.
The Bagan MP said the latest controversy happened just shortly after the ruling coalition was mired in the fiasco that saw Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali escaped his quarantine violation unpunished.
Lim said Khairuddin was given “a sweetheart deal” by merely being fined with a RM1,000 compound for violating a home quarantine order after returning from a private trip to Turkey.
In contrast, a 72-year old Malay lady was charged in court and fined RM8,000 and a day’s jail, for also breaching quarantine and Covid-19 health protocols.
“Up to now the government cannot explain why a minister is not charged in court like the 72-year old ordinary woman?” Lim said.
“Such selective enforcement of the laws by the enforcement agencies, have even led to ministers not being investigated or charged for corrupt practices and recommending their own children to be appointed as directors of GLCs,” he added.
