Kuala Lumpur : In a Media statement released today (September 10) DAP stalwart and member of Parliament for Iskandar Puteri (Johor) Lim Kit Siang, lambasted the federal government for the manner it handled the Veveonah matter.
The following is the full text of Lim Kit Siang’s press statement:
“The Veveonah 24-hour “tree-top girl” episode has provided a rare glimpse of the shambolic governance of the kakistocratic Muhyiddin government, where there is no understanding of collective Cabinet responsibility and where no Minister dare to exercise discipline over his Deputy Minister.
This is the result of the highly opportunistic and unprincipled backdoor government, which was formed with the sole purpose of betraying the mandate of the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 for change and reform and the toppling of the legitimate Pakatan Harapan government.
The country should have been elated by the YouTube feat of plucky 18-year-old student from Kampung Sapatalang in Pitas who had dramatically highlighted the problem of digital divide in Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia (a worldwide problem which must be resolved by the government of the day), and which had received to date over 790,000 views.
Instead we have the tragic-comedy of dishonesty and lies by two Deputy Ministers, with the Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Zahidi Zainul Abdin attacking Veveonah Mosibin in the Senate of lying when she did a YouTube in June of her 24 hours on top of a tree to sit for an examination because of poor internet connectivity, backed by the Deputy Finance Minister who is MP for Kudat, Abdul Rahim Bakri, who posted on his Facebook a false account of Veveonah’s treetop feat and launched an attack on Veveonah’s family.
Abdul Rahim deleted his Facebook post when Vevonah’s brother, Mekvin came to the defence of his sister – showing that the Deputy Finance Minister was unable to stand up to the public questioning of his own constituents.
But what must take the cake for the whole episode was the tweet by the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Khairy Jamaluddin, who tweeted that the Cabinet yesterday “took note” that the statements of the two deputy ministers were “incorrect and inappropriate” when the real issue is Internet access and other basic facilities specifically in the interior.
No punitive action but just “take note”? What a pathetic Cabinet!
What to expect when we have a three-term MP who is a deputy Finance Minister to an unelected Finance Minister, and an UMNO Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister who regards his Minister as a traitor to the UMNO cause?
It provided a rare glimpse of the shambolic governance of the kakistocratic Muhyiddin government whose Cabinet for the first time had to discuss the sins and peccadilloes of Deputy Ministers – which no Cabinet had to do before.
This is the outcome when the government was formed by the most opportunistic coalition and led by the weakest Prime Minister in the nation’s history, with no understanding of collective Cabinet responsibility and where no Minister dare to exercise discipline over his Deputy Minister.
This was why a Cabinet Minister could violate the Covid-19 quarantine SOP on his return from Turkey on July 7, and could continue to strut around the country as no other Minister from another political party dare to raise the issue in Cabinet or the government will fall.
Only the insufferable misconduct of two Deputy Ministers was a bridge too far and it was discussed in the Cabinet but what is noteworthy is that no punitive action was taken against the two Deputy Ministers, only a Cabinet statement that their conduct was “incorrect and inappropriate”.
The Bersatu secretary-general and Home Minister, Hamzah Zainuddin, said “PN” stands for “Penyselamat Negara”. I do not think PN Ministers and leaders would agree, as they know privately that “PN” stands for “Pengkhianat Negara”!
