As a result, the Local Government Ministry sent out a circular early this month asking all local authorities to ask the political parties to remove their flags and posters or have them brought down by enforcement officers.
Barisan Nasional Ministers and leaders, including the Prime Minister, criticised opposition parties for conducting a flag war and said that "struggles of the ruling Barisan Nasional are not to hoist flags in every '’nook and corner’' but to bring development to the country and progress to the people".
However, the Barisan Nasional seems to have changed its mind and is now following the opposition.
Contrary to the Cabinet directive and the statements by Barisan Ministers and leaders chiding the opposition for conducting a "flag-war", Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in his visit to Kelantan yesterday launched the Barisan version of a flag-war in its campaign to fly the Barisan Nasional flag throughout Kelantan to mark the BN's mission to recapture the state from PAS.
The flags were contributed by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah following his appointment as chairman of the Kelantan Umno liaison committee on June 20, and Mahathir witnessed the handing over of 225,000 BN flags to the 14 Umno divisions in Kelantan.
What is now the position of the Cabinet directive to all local authorities
to remove the flags and posters of political parties until the general
election is called? Is this directive still valid and to be enforced by
all local authorities?
Or are the 225,000 Barisan Nasional flags to be put up
in Kelantan an exemption from the recent Cabinet directive to all
local councils to remove flags and posters of political parties?
(23/7/99)