Siah has crossed the red line, says Karim

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Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah

KUCHING: Chief Political Secretary to the Chief Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said Movement for Change Sarawak (MoCS) chief Francis Siah’s incitement for mass demonstration against a democratically elected chief minister is against democracy.

As such, he said, PBB and especially its Youth wing were against his call as it is akin to fomenting public disorder.

“Siah said there is nothing wrong in asking Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud to quit. My comment is this: Definitely there is nothing wrong in asking a leader to quit. It’s one’s right under freedom of speech.

“But freedom of speech has its limit too. What PBB and its Youth wing are concerned about is that he is giving the ultimatum to the chief minister to quit by August 13 or there will be a mass demonstration ala the one that brought down the Egyptian and Tunisian governments that Siah wanted to organise. It is against public order that is wrong,” Karim told the Borneo Post here yesterday.

He added that the present BN government led by Taib is legitimate as it had won 55 seats out of the 71 contested or more than two thirds of the total seats.

“The rakyat has given its mandate to the BN and no one in the right frame of mind should question that mandate which was conducted fairly and legitimately,” Karim pointed out.

Karim, who is also the BN backbencher club chairman and a PBB supreme council member, reiterated that Siah’s incitement and the call for public disorder after August 13 was what PBB and its Youth wing were protesting about and not Siah’s call for Taib to quit.

“Though Siah is a loner and without any influence, that does not mean that he is above the law with his call for public disorder,” added Karim who is also Asajaya assemblyman.

According to the latest news report, Siah is now in Kota Kinabalu and had not received any call from the police despite PBB Youth Kuching zone’s police report against him.

The PBB Youth Kuching zone had also issued a warning that it was giving Siah and MoCS seven days to retract the statement.

When contacted, Kuching police deputy chief Superintendent Pauzi Bujang said the case was now under investigation and would not comment further on it.