I never told DAP to ‘stay out’ of Nenggiri, says Ku Li

The Gua Musang Umno chief reiterates that he merely said there was ‘no need’ for DAP to campaign for the Nenggiri state seat by-election.

(FMT) – Gua Musang Umno chief Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has denied telling DAP to stay out of the Nenggiri by-election in Kelantan next month.

Tengku Razaleigh, also known as Ku Li, told FMT in an interview he merely said there was no need for DAP to campaign for the Aug 17 by-election.

He explained that in a discussion, a question arose as to whether DAP leaders should be invited to campaign for Barisan Nasional candidate Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani.

“I said, what do you want DAP leaders here for? Most of them are non-Malays and this (Nenggiri) is a 100% Malay constituency. So, that is the reason. It stops there,” he said.

Tengku Razaleigh, who is Umno’s director for the by-election, said he was subsequently asked if he would “stop some people from coming”.

“I said that it’s not necessary. They need not come. That’s my statement,” he said, adding that he had no authority to stop people from going to Nenggiri or anywhere to campaign.

“I made a pointed statement, where (I said) I don’t think there is a need for DAP to go there. DAP is not contesting. There is no controversy, there is nothing,” he said.

On Thursday, a news portal reported that Tengku Razaleigh had urged DAP to stay out of the by-election. He was quoted by the portal as questioning the point of DAP coming to Malay areas.

He was reported to have said that “they are not even proficient in Malay” and that DAP’s campaign speeches were always skewed more to the Chinese voter.

He was also reported to have said that DAP would be wasting its time by going to Nenggiri and that the Malays in the constituency “want to hear from the Malays about the Malays there”.

BN has also denied allegations that it does not want its members or key allies in the unity government to speak at rallies during its Nenggiri by-election campaign.

It described the claim as a political manoeuvre intended to divide the unity government.