PR’s boycott of UMNO mouthpiece stays, reminds Syed Husin
By Harakah Daily
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6: Parti Keadilan Rakyat deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali said every member of Pakatan Rakyat parties should respect the decision made by the top leadership to boycot UMNO and Perkasa mouthpiece, Utusan Malaysia.
“Boycotting Utusan is not a personal stand. It was decided by Pakatan top leadership. Hence it (the directive) must be respected and adhered to by every member,” said the outgoing deputy president in a Twitter post.
Syed Husin reminded that in May 2008, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa and DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng had issued a joint statement for a boycott of the Malay daily for its misreporting of the opposition coalition.
He was responding to the recent statement by deputy president aspirant Zaid Ibrahim who ignored party de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim’s warning to keep away from pro-UMNO media.
Zaid had earlier granted interviews to UMNO-owned Utusan Malaysia and New Straits Times, in which he had charged that powerful forces within PKR were trying to sideline him, drawing criticisms from opposition supporters.
Zaid however had defended his actions.
“No other newspaper has attacked me more than Utusan, but when I was invited by Utusan, I did not say boycott them.
“I think that this could be because he (Anwar) has been slammed a lot by Utusan. So, he thinks that the Umno-owned paper is the real enemy that cannot speak the truth. I am not sure. You will have to ask him yourself,” he was quoted as saying.
