Nazri takes verbal abuse in his stride

Nazri takes verbal abuse in his stride

The tourism and culture minister says he is happy that his statements succeeded in triggering the anger of a political opponent who calls him a coward.

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PETALING JAYA:
Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Aziz, holding true to his reputation as a maverick politician, today just laughed after being verbally abused by former Umno divisional leader Khairuddin Abu Hassan.

“I am happy that statements I’ve made all this while have triggered Khairuddin’s anger and I don’t mind taking credit for it,” he said after being called a coward for not attending the Nothing to Hide 2.0 forum organised by PPBM Youth last Sunday.

He pointed out that he was not invited to the event.

Nazri said the objective of the forum was for PPBM chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is also chairman of Pakatan Harapan, to go on a head-to-head debate with Prime Minister Najib Razak.

“Everybody knows this. It is between the two of them as, according to Mahathir, he has nothing to hide,” he said.

Asked whether he would make an appearance at the Nothing to Hide 0.3 forum planned by Jamal Yunos, Nazri said the Sungai Besar Umno leader could invite whoever he wanted.

“I fully support Jamal’s plan to organise such a forum himself. We also want to know from Mahathir’s side the total funds he managed to raise in the five general elections during his tenure as Barisan Nasional leader.

“Who he got the money from. How much he spent. How much was the balance from it and where is the balance now,” said Nazri.

Following PPBM Youth’s forum, Jamal said at a press conference the next day that he was planning to organise a similar event in Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur, in mid-September.

Jamal, who is also the Red Shirts movement’s leader, assured there would be no ruckus at his event.

It was reported that he would invite PPBM Youth but not Mahathir as, he said, he feared another ruckus if the Pakatan Harapan chairman was present.

Sunday’s forum descended into chaos when slippers, a shoe, bottles and chairs were thrown and two flares were lighted inside the Dewan Raja Muda Musa hall in Shah Alam.

More than a dozen people have been remanded to facilitate police investigation of the disturbance.

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