Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is suing DAP national publicity chief Tony Pua for remarks made at a fundraiser last November in connection with the debt-laden 1MDB. – The Malaysian Insider pic, March 6, 2015.DAP has vowed to fight Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who is suing the party’s national publicity chief Tony Pua for defamation over comments on debt-laden strategic investment fund, 1Malaysia Development Bhd.Gobind Singh, the party’s national legal bureau secretary, posted on Twitter that the writ was served at 4.30pm today, and added: "Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Razak can rest assured that we will fight this to the very end."The suit is believed to be over a speech Pua made at a party fundraiser last November, where the lawmaker allegedly said Najib had robbed the people.It is believed that this is the first time a prime minister is suing a lawmaker.The suit was filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday by law firm Hafarizam Wan Aisha and Mubarak.In an immediate response, Pua told The Malaysian Insider said that he had already responded to the letter of demand sent by the prime minister in November.It was reported that in the letter of demand signed by Najib’s lawyer, Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun, Pua was told to publish a retraction and apology within 14 days in two national newspapers, or face legal action for his speech recorded in the November 3 video: “Tony Pua: Najib is creating the biggest scandal ever in the history of Malaysia".Pua was also asked to remove the video from the Internet, stop further defamatory statements, and pay Najib for damages over his remarks.According to a transcript in the letter, Pua had said: “Let me tell you, this is the problem with Barisan Nasional. No one dares to stand up to the prime minister, and Najib now is like a king. A king that is creating the biggest scandal ever in the history of Malaysia. Huge! No one dares to say a thing, nothing, not even the pin drop from any of MCA of Gerakan leader or even Umno leaders...“It is disgraceful, it is scandalous for a 100% Ministry of Finance-owned entity with the board of advisers chaired by the prime minister himself not being able to submit accounts on time, especially when the company is so big when the public looks at it with great interest (RM)36 billion in debt they are not able to submit their account on time…“There is only one reason why I think can. The reason why can is because all these MCA, MIC, Gerakan kakis all don’t dare to challenge their prime minister, all say okay okay thank you, please carry on and rob the people’s money."Lawyer and Padang Serai MP N. Surendran, meanwhile, said this was believed to be the first time that a prime minister was suing a lawmaker, adding that even the authoritarian and intolerant former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad did not resort to such measures.He said instead, it followed in the footsteps of Singapore's prime ministers who regularly sued their critics."This is a highly undesirable development for a democracy."The PM must be open to criticism, especially where it concerns public funds," Surendran said.He added that MPs had a public duty to raise these matters and that as a matter of principle, a prime minister, ministers and the government should not sue those who criticise them for the sake of public interest. – March 6, 2015.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น