“The most unforgettable incident in Malaysia in the month of Ramadan must be the transformation of PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang into an even greater champion and defender of Najib and his 1MDB scandal than anyone else in Umno,” Lim said.
Reacting to Hadi’s accusation earlier today that certain quarters were inviting outsiders to meddle in the country’s internal problems so they could win the next general election (GE14), Lim said the DAP had never supported any foreign interference into Malaysia’s affairs.
“DAP does not support any foreign intervention into Malaysia’s domestic affairs but we cannot also justify Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy,” the Gelang Patah MP said in a statement.
“DAP is fortified in this stand because there can be no religion which supports corruption or a kleptocracy,” he added.
In an open letter to Malaysian political parties, Hadi had said Malaysia’s internal issues should be left to the nation’s own courts to decide on and not be entrusted to foreign courts.
The Marang MP claimed that there were parties in other countries wanting to seize the opportunity to prop up their own interests by compromising Malaysia’s.
He also said the Al-Quran forbade Muslims from entrusting outsiders to resolve their problems.
Hadi’s statement is believed to be in response to the US Department of Justice’s (DoJ) latest civil suit on June 15 to seize assets amounting to US$540 million (RM2.3 billion), including art works, a yacht, jewellery and film rights purchased with funds allegedly embezzled from 1MDB.
The DoJ’s first suit was filed in July last year when Washington sought to confiscate more than US$1 billion (RM4.28 billion) in connection with the sovereign wealth fund.
Lim, who is the DAP parliamentary leader, also said the Ramadan period this year saw an upsurge in the politics of “hate, distrust, intolerance and extremism” to cause a “crisis” of racial and religious polarisation.
He said examples of such extremism and fanaticism included the demand by a group in Penang that non-Muslims not participate in breaking-of-fast events and the incident in Kluang where the DAP MP for the constituency Liew Chin Tong was jostled and shouted at while visiting a Ramadan bazaar there.
Lim also said Umno information chief Annuar Musa had made a “shocking statement” by reportedly asserting on June 20 that the DoJ’s action was part of a conspiracy to meddle in Malaysia’s affairs because the country had a Muslim-led government.
Hadi warns parties over foreign meddling in domestic affairs
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