Blame Najib not Pakatan, PAS man tells Vincent Tan
By Yow Hong Chieh, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 — PAS vice-president Datuk Dr Mahfuz Omar said Tan Sri Vincent Tan should blame Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib’s flip-flopping ways instead of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) for the government’s football betting licence U-turn.
“He should blame Datuk Najib who flip-flopped.”
“Datuk Najib should not have issued the letter of approval for them to start operations in the first place,” he said in the Parliament lobby here.
The tycoon had told gaming industry analysts yesterday that PR was to blame for the Najib administration’s backtracking on legalised football betting, and alleged that illegal bookmakers had spent between RM100 million and RM300 million to smear his attempt to introduce above-board football betting.
Illegal bookmaking activities in Malaysia are estimated to be worth up to RM20 billion a year.
Tan said this at a luncheon with about 40 gaming analysts, where he was also said to have shown them a Finance Ministry letter dated Jan 13, 2010 that gave him conditional approval for the licence.
“I sympathise with him (Tan) because the letter caused him trouble,” Mahfuz said.
The Pokok Sena MP said that Najib’s act of withdrawing the licence showed that the prime minister did not fear God but PR instead.
“Najib’s government should also listen to the cries of the people, who do not agree with GST,” he said, and added that the government should also listen to the public’s views on subsidies.
Mahfuz also thanked Tan for acknowledging the role of “people power” in forcing the government to withdraw the licence.
Last Friday, Najib capitulated to popular public opinion when he announced the government will not issue a football betting licence, weeks after tycoon Tan said his Ascot Sports Sdn Bhd had received approval for an old licence.
