The Minister for Communications and Multimedia Saifuddin Abdullah claims to be caught off-guard by the huge allocation of RM85.5 million for the revival of the Special Affairs Department (JASA), according to Malaysian Insight.
His deputy minister, Zahidi Zainul Abidin – who still owes the Universiti Malaysia Sabah student Veveonah Mosibun an apology for his lies in Senate about Veveonah having to spend a night on a tree-top to get better connectivity to sit for an online examination – thinks otherwise.
Zahidi said it was his idea to revive JASA and Saifuddin knew about it. Zahidi said Saifuddin may have forgotten “as he has many responsibilities”.
Zahidi also said it was a collective decision to allocate the huge amount for the unit under Budget 2021.
Who is right – Saifuddin or Zahidi?
Are we seeing a kakistocracy at work, where the Deputy Minister is more powerful and knowledgeable than the Minister?
Was Saifuddin so busy with his Cabinet duties as Foreign Minister in the former Pakatan Harapan Governmnent, that Saifuddin had forgotten that he brought about the first haemorrhage of the Pakatan Harapan Government when the issues of ICERD and Rome Statute “out-of-the-blue” became hot controversies and DAP, which knew nothing about them, was blamed for such “anti-Malay, anti-Islam, anti-Royalty” manifestations?
The ICERD and Rome Statute issues became grist in the mill for Malay extremists to drum up the campaign that the allegedly anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-royalty DAP was running the Pakatan Harapan government, where the Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was merely a DAP stooge, and the justification for a “Malays Unite” reaction to the Pakatan Harapan government, leading to the subsequent backdoor Sheraton Move plot which toppled the legitimate PH government.
In view of the nation-wide uproar that the proposed revival of JASA has caused, will Saifuddin repair the damage and take the lead in the Cabinet to abort the revival of JASA and turn the budget allocation for a special agency to promote national unity and bring Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics together as one united people to fight the Covid-19 pandemic?
Will Saifuddin give a firm commitment that there will be no revival of JASA, which was nothing but a propaganda and cybertrooper arm of the Najib government to firstly, defend the 1MDB scandal and kleptocracy and secondly, to demonise the DAP as anti-Malay, anti-Islam, anti-royalty and even as “communist” to distract Malaysians from the issues of 1MDB and kleptocracy of the Najib administration?
Lim Kit Siang
MP for Iskandar Puteri
