SHAH ALAM, 10 Mar: The Federal Government under the leadership of Umno-BN has allegedly made the invasion issue in Lahad Datu, Sabah, a political modus to exacerbate Pakatan Rakyat and it does not prioritise the issue of national security.
Batu Member of Parliament, Tian Chua, in a Pakatan Rakyat (PR) talk in Bukit Piatu, Malacca yesterday, said that the move was clear when Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak still refuses to call an emergency session in Parliament to discuss the issue.
According to him, national security cannot be understated and PR will not compromise on this matter.
“When the tragedy struck Lahad Datu, we asked for the Prime Minister to hold a special session (emergency) in Parliament for us to discuss together.
“I do not see why this cannot be done because we have faced similar circumstances.
“When the Prime Minister was overseas when Palestine was attacked by Zionists, the Prime Minister ordered a special (emergency) session in Parliament to be held and we from the opposition supported it. That is our stand on the issue of truth,” he said.
What was even more disappointing was when he was defamed for insulting the security forces even though he never issued such statements.
“On March 1, when asked by journalists to comment on the shooting that happened in Lahad Datu. I mentioned that I felt it strange as to why the local media did not cover the shooting issue seeing that all sources came from foreign media agencies,” he said.
He added that when the country is faced with an armed threat from outside (foreign), he was being targeted by assuming that he was the number one enemy of the country.
“Some parties (Umno-BN) consider me as a bigger and worse enemy than the Sultan of Sulu,” he said.
Tian Chua was charged in the Sessions Court, Kuala Lumpur on 14 March on charges that he issued the inciting statement, for allegedly associating the Government and Umno with the armed terrorist aggression in Lahad Datu.
The PKR Vice-President pleaded not guilty to the charge under Section 4(1) (b) of the Sedition Act 1948. If convicted of the first offence, he will be liable to a fine of not more than RM5,000 or imprisoned for not more than three years, or both.
If convicted for the second offence, he may be imprisoned for not more than five years.
Among the alleged seditious words were that the shooting in Lahad Datu is believed to be a planned conspiracy by the Umno government to distract and frighten the people.