Khairy: Avoid confrontation

Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaludin has advised the wing’s 700,000 members against resorting to confrontation or physical violence that could lead to chaos.

He said the movement has never encouraged or condoned such acts by its members.

“But at the same time, I wish to stress that all these cropped up because of Karpal Singh’s abrasive remarks in the Dewan Rakyat.

“I feel that Karpal Singh should be careful, don’t provoke the sentiments of Umno Youth grassroots because I think their anger is serious and he should watch his words,” he told reporters after officiating at the Seputeh Youth Open Futsal Championship here yesterday.

Khairy, who is Rembau MP, was commenting on the commotion at the Parliament House on Thursday, involving 30 members of the Selangor Umno Youth and DAP chairman Karpal Singh, the Bukit Gelugor MP.

Last week, Karpal Singh had claimed that the youth group had sent two bullets to his home through the post.

Khairy said Karpal Singh had 24 hours to prove his claim but until now he had not done so, and instead the veteran lawyer had described him as a “juvenile little boy”.

“There’s a problem with the example given by Karpal Singh. Perhaps I might be a little boy to him but at least I am not like him … I do not make baseless claims… and if I am a juvenile little boy, then maybe he’s an old ‘senile’ man,” he said.

He said Karpal Singh’s statement in the Dewan Rakyat had caused tension which resulted in a group of 30 Selangor Umno Youth members facing the veteran politician to ask him for an explanation on his accusations.

Khairy said he believed Umno Youth had not started the trouble in the Parliament incident, and it was up to Parliament to take action against those who were guilty.

He also said Umno Youth had lawyers to defend members who were involved in the incident. — Bernama