I was just stating the obvious, Pua says of “Umno running dogs” remark
Yiswaree Palansamy, TMI
DAP national publicity chief Tony Pua (pic) said he was merely stating the obvious when he described both the Registrar of Societies (ROS) and Umno mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia as Umno’s running dogs.
“Isn’t Utusan proud to be doing Umno’s bidding after all? So why are they complaining? I was just stating the obvious,” Pua told The Malaysian Insider in answer to Utusan’s criticism of him in a report earlier today.
Pua said the Bahasa Malaysia daily had for weeks been suggesting that the party’s secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, veteran member and adviser Lim Kit Siang and several of its top leaders would be discarded by delegates in the central executive committee (CEC) polls.
He said the outcome, however, proved Utusan to be “a frivolous gossip rag and nothing but an unscrupulous Umno mouthpiece”.
“So where was I wrong in what I said? Our DAP delegates made Utusan swallow its own vomit and forced them to eat humble pie, and that is the reality,” he said.
“My colours have remained true and the same, dulu, kini dan selamanya. So, I would like to thank Utusan for pointing out the obvious,” he said in taking a jibe at the daily.
Pua posted the remarks on the night of DAP’s September 29 special congress, when all the CEC members were elected without any change.
The DAP was instructed by ROS to hold the fresh election after allegations of vote manipulation in last year’s December party polls.
Utusan had led the charge against DAP, demanding the party hold a fresh election after some members complained to the ROS of irregularities in the party election last year.
In a commentary today, Awang Selamat, the moniker for the collective voice of the paper’s editors, said he did not know what Pua’s problem was.
“Once again he has shown his true colours when he called the ROS and Utusan Malaysia Umno’s dogs.
“It is proven that Tony Pua does not have the confidence to make an orderly argument,” said Awang Selamat in the paper’s weekend edition, Mingguan Malaysia.
Awang also said he “does not need to stoop so low to become like Pua in using harsh words”.
Pua has had a history of run-ins with Utusan Malaysia and in the past complained that the paper had distorted his statements.
