Karpal will be president if PAS wins, Kuala Besut told

Deputy Agriculture Minister Tajuddin Abdul Rahman warned Kuala Besut voters that Karpal Singh could be Malaysia’s first president if they allow DAP to control Putrajaya through PAS.

“The sultan is the head of our religion. The agong is a Muslim. If we become a republic, (DAP chairperson) Karpal Singh then becomes the president. He would be your chief.

“Can this be? Can Karpal Singh be the head of Islam? No,” he said in his opening speech at a programme by the Veterinary Services Department in Kampung Baharu, Kuala Besut, this morning.

He reasoned that PAS wants to be in Putrajaya but has only 20 MPs, hence it has joined Pakatan Rakyat and in doing so has opened its doors to DAP for negotiation.

“Do you think DAP would give them (benefits) for free? They (DAP) would work with PAS, but the condition is that they would demand this and demand that. 

“Perhaps they will ask to be the deputy prime minister.

“Who would that be? (DAP parliamentary leader) Lim Kit Siang, or his son Lim Guan Eng,” he said according to sources.

He also claimed Karpal has said that if PAS is to remain in Pakatan Rakyat, it must never mention the issue of ‘Islamic struggle’ and must ‘tread over his dead body’ first if it were to establish an Islamic state.

Tajuddin, an Umno supreme council member, urged the electorate therefore to not vote for PAS in order to keep DAP out of power. 

“If PAS rules Terengganu, it would be someone else in power and that is DAP, which will influence Terengganu leaders just as DAP influences PAS in Kelantan and PAS in Selangor.

“Even in Kedah in the past, what PAS did was subject to pressure, comments and requests,” he said, adding that this would happen in Terengganu as well despite DAP’s absence there.

‘Their people’ would reign

Speaking to roughly 100 Malays, Tajuddin (below) claimed that opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim too is not fond of the royalty, and alleged DAP would amend Article 153 of the federal constitution that deals with the special position of bumiputeras. 

He cited the example of Singapore, that although once had Malay-Muslim presidents, but not for long.

Tajuddin then dredged up a laundry list of DAP’s alleged evils, such as how DAP does not like Malays in the civil service and would oust half of them if it comes into power, then replace them with “their people”.

Meanwhile in the DAP-led Penang, he said the Malays there are being treated unfairly over increasing property prices blamed on Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

“Guan Eng has chased away Malays from Penang Island. How? He builds expensive houses worth RM700,000, RM1,000,000, RM2,000,000. 

“Malays can’t afford this and are forced to buy property outside of the island,” he said, while adding that there are only rich Malays left there. 

Other examples included claims that former Perak Menteri Besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin is a DAP puppet, and Guan Eng’s call for the word ‘Allah’ to be allowed in Bahasa Malaysia bibles.

‘Oppressed minorities a lie’

The deputy minister further claimed that although he was trumpeting Malay power, BN looks after the interests of all races and is a fair government.

“The BN government led by Umno, who are Malays, is a government that is fair to all races. 

“Where are the neglected Chinese? The oppressed Indians? All these oppression stories are just to instigate the people to hate the government,” he said. 

He stressed that the BN-led government does not stop Chinesevernacular schools, non-Islamic religions, and non-Malay businesses.

The first by-election since the May 5 general election that saw Umno win Terengganu by a wafer-thin majority is taking place in a 99 percent Malay seat of 17,683 voters.

The campaign period - that takes place during the holy month of Ramadan - pits PAS’ Azlan Yusof against BN’s Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abdul Rahman in a race to win votes by the July 24 polling date.