Bukit Aman Is Investigating Lim Kit Siang After Najib Accused Him Of Inciting The People
The DAP veteran, in cautionary remarks, had asked if the Malaysian Cabinet will suffer the same fate as their Sri Lankan counterparts, adding that while it was not likely to happen soon, Malaysia must learn from the mistakes of Sri Lanka.
By Sadho Ram — 21 May 2022, 11:40 AM
Iskandar Puteri member of parliament (MP) Lim Kit Siang is being investigated for the remarks he made in a press statement on 19 May
While not naming the DAP veteran, police said they are investigating the screenshot of a tweet accompanied by a question from his press statement that was tweeted by Kit Siang on Thursday morning.
Bukit Aman CID director Datuk Seri Abd Jalil Hassan said that the screenshot of the tweet has gone viral on WhatsApp and that the content of the tweet can allegedly potentially disrupt harmony.
Kit Siang, in cautionary remarks, had asked, "will the houses of the Prime Minister and Ministers of Malaysia be set on fire by angry protestors as happened in Sri Lanka last week?" adding that while it was not likely to happen soon, Malaysia must learn from the mistakes of Sri Lanka.
"This is not going to happen today, this month or this year, but will it happen before Malaysia marks its Centennial in 2057 or 2063? Are we following in the footsteps of Sri Lanka?"
Abd Jalil said that police are investigating the remarks under Section 505(c) for making statements intended to incite or which are likely to incite and under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for improper use of network facilities or network service.
The investigation against Kit Siang comes after former prime minister Najib Razak accused the Iskandar Puteri MP of inciting the public
Najib, in a Facebook post on the same day, had asked the police to arrest Kit Siang, while calling him an "instigator" who has continued to "deceive and incite the people" for 60 years.
After Najib's criticism, Kit Siang said he changed the headline of the statement on the advice of his political secretary Syahredzan Johan
While the previous headline of the statement in question was titled, "Will the houses of the prime minister and ministers of Malaysia be set on fire by angry protesters as happened in Sri Lanka last week?", the headline now reads, "Can Malaysia learn from the lessons of Sri Lanka?"
He also hit out against Najib for accusing him of incitement to violence
According to Kit Siang, he was simply warning that Malaysia should learn from its Asian neighbour's ongoing experience and prevent its political and socio-economic conditions from deteriorating.
"I have already explained that I had no intention to incite any unrest in Malaysia but to warn of the dangers of allowing the political and socio-economic conditions in Malaysia to deteriorate as happened in Sri Lanka for over half a century as to become a failed state. I had asked the question whether the houses of the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Malaysia will be set on fire by angry protestors as happened in Sri Lanka last week and immediately answered the question: This is not going to happen today, this month or this year, but will it happen before Malaysia marks its Centennial in 2057 or 2063?" he said.
Kit Siang added that while he had expected "political desperados and opportunists" to distort the meaning of his statement, he had not expected "a former prime minister to head the charge".
