Kajang, March 22- Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim late last night demanded for the resignation of acting Defence Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein for failing to secure the nation’s security in the wake of the missing MH 370.
“Why was the Marconi radar not working? The government purchased that radar but there was no mention of it in the reports.
“If this question cannot be answered, then the Defence Minister must resign. National security is at stake,” Anwar told about 10,000 supporters at the Himpunan Reformasi 2.0 rally in Kajang here..
The Marconi radar was purchased by the government when Anwar was the Defence Minister in mid-1990s. The radar is located at Gong Kapas, Terengganu.
Flight MH370 flight carrying 239 passengers and crew went missing on March 8 on a routine flight from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing, China.
The Boeing 777-200ER aircraft went missing on civilian radar, heading for Vietnam, as it was passing the South China Sea. An hour later the plane was spotted by the military radar in the western side of peninsula Malaysia, near Pulau Perak, heading towards the Andaman Sea.
Search and rescue teams from 27 countries are currently scouring through the Andaman Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean to find the runaway plane.
Anwar also called for Hishammuddin’s resignation for the failure by the military to identify MH370, when it was spotted on military radar.
He said the government should not cast any aspersions on the pilot of the ill fated flight Capt Zaharie Ahmad Shah.
“It is you who is complacent and failed to maintain the radar. Do not blame Zaharie. He is competent and professional,” said Anwar.
The Opposition Leader, just after the plane went missing, denied knowing the pilot but later retracted the statement when it was made known that Zaharie was an uncle of his daughter-in-law.
The PKR supremo also said the government’s handling of the whole MH370 fiasco showed that it lacked transparency.
“This is the first time China has come out strongly against us. You failed to share information and this caused China and its people to be upset,” said Anwar.
The Himpunan Reformasi 2.0 rally was held to show solidarity to Anwar and DAP national chairman Karpal Singh who are seen as victims of selective persecution and to shore up support for PKR candidate Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in the Kajang by-election which will see polling tomorrow.
The theme for the assembly is ‘Return justice and end tyranny’. Similar assemblies are in the pipeline throughout the nation and the final rally would be held in Kuala Lumpur.
As for the Kajang by-election contested by his wife, Azizah and MCA vice-president Chew Mei Fun, he urged voters to avoid scuffles.
“Don’t cause traffic congestion as we have concerns that some parties may use that as a reason to sabotage the by-election,” he said.
The Kajang state seat fell vacant following the resignation of incumbent assemblymen Lee Chin Cheh of PKR on Jan 27. Early polling would be held on March 19.
The state seat comprises 39,728 registered voters. At the last general election in May 2013, the seat saw a voter turnout of 87.9% with 541 spoilt votes.
-FreeMalaysiaToday
