Will the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Home Minister and all UMNO Ministers co-operate with the police in investigations into the seditious and hate speeches made by two UMNO delegates at last week’s UMNO General Assemblies?

Are the police waiting for the “green light” by the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi before they dare to move on the various police reports and investigate sedition and other hate crimes committed by two UMNO delegates Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said (Penang) and Mashitah Ibrahim (Kedah) at last week’s UMNO General Assemblies?

From Zahid’s “war-mongering” speech during the winding-up of the UMNO General Assembly on Saturday, he seemed to have usurped the powers of everybody and arrogated to himself the sole powers of deciding whether a person has committed sedition, whether the police, the Attorney-General or even the Judiciary – a sort of one-man arbiter combining the powers of “judge, jury and executioner” on sedition offences to the extent that he could pride himself for being described as a “hardcore” or “fundamentalist” Home Minister, bragging that 40 people had been prosecuted under the Sedition Act in 2010 and 12 this year and more to come, especially after the retention of the Sedition Act after being “fortified”.

Many Malaysians are shocked by Zahid’s “war-mongering” performance in his winding-up speech last Saturday, for no Home Minister under six Prime Ministers in the past 57 years had misbehaved like Zahid at the UMNO General Assembly last Saturday.

Zahid’s “war-mongering” performance might befit his position as UMNO Vice President but it was clearly inappropriate for a Home Minister of the country – as he must be reminded that he is Home Minister not just for UMNO to look after UMNO interests, but to safeguard the security of 30 million Malaysians, including 53% of the electorate who did not vote for Barisan Nasional and UMNO in the 13th General Elections in May last year.

Penang UMNO delegate Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said’s denial today that he had been misinterpreted and that he didn’t mean that all Chinese profited from vice, crime and illegal business must rank as one of the most ludicrous excuses in political history – made even more ridiculous that it has to taken the Penang UMNO leader three full days in the eye of a national storm to realize that he had been “misinterpreted”.

Zahid should in fact volunteer to co-operate in police investigations as a witness to Mohd Zaid’s racist, irresponsible, provocative and incendiary speech to incite inter-racial hatred, tensions and conflict as it was made at the UMNO General Assembly where Zahid and the entire UMNO leadership and the mainstay of the Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, were present.

In fact, the police should be taking statements not only from Zahid, but also from Najib, Muhyiddin, Hishammuddin, Shafie Apdal and all the UMNO Ministers and leaders as they were all witnesses to Mohd Zaidi’s racist, provocative and incendiary speech of lies that the Penang Chinese community had become rich off money from gambling, prostitution and entertainment outlets.

Will the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Zahid himself, and all UMNO Ministers and leaders co-operate with the police in its investigation against Mohd Zaidi for the crimes of sedition and hate speech?

Is this the reason why the police is waiting for Zahid’s “green light” before commencing investigations into Mohd Zaidi’s seditious and hate speech?

Does the same consideration apply to police investigations into Mashitah’s baseless, criminal and seditious allegations that the Chinese community in Kedah had burned a Quran page by page during a prayer ritual when the Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir had said that the incident concerned a mentally-ill Malay individual who had torn the Quran?

Will Zahid, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO Ministers and leaders co-operate with the police in investigations on Mohd Zaidi and Mashitah for their seditious and hate speeches at UMNO General Assemblies last week, or there is a implicit directive that the police should not conduct any serious investigations into the two UMNO delegates’ speeches at the UMNO General Assembly?

Lim Kit Siang DAP Parliamentary Leader & MP for Gelang Patah