Information, Communication and Culture Minister Rais Yatim has come under fire in the local media for using a Tadau Ka'amatan visit in recent days to drum up support for Barisan Nasional at the expense of the goodwill generated for the harvest festival.

rais yatim interview 160409 02 "His allegation that some people were sowing discord in Sabah and Sarawak and that this needs to be thwarted came at a bad time," said PKR deputy state chief Daniel John Jambun.

"He knew that we were in the festive month of Ka'amatan and yet he chose to come here and make such an ignorant remark. The people and all leaders, both from the government and opposition were celebrating the season together in the spirit of joy, peace and togetherness.

"It was not an appropriate time to start throwing accusations. He can be accused of the very same thing when he uses words like 'sowing discord' and other terms like disharmony, disunity and making trouble," he added in a statement.

Jambun is under no illusion on the target of Rais’ scathing attack but still chose to pose the question: "Who was he referring to as sowing discord or being troublemakers?"

Rais, according to him, should clarify his remark since as an academician and intellectual, "he is very qualified to enlighten us all on this issue and end the speculation."

The PKR chief said the minister could only have been referring to people who are not going along with the government of the day and have other ideas on how the country should be run.

"The opposition in Sabah is not sowing discord. We are fighting for the rights of the people by revealing the truth. Whether the minister allows free flow of information or not, the truth has already been revealed. It is too late because the cat is out of the bag.

"To use ridiculous and childish propaganda against the opposition is futile, fruitless and counter-productive. We no longer live in the ignorance of the 1960s. Now, we have a global perspective and we know a silly political statement when we hear one," he added.

Federal leaders can be accused of the same

Jambun warned that federal leaders from Peninsular Malaysia could be accused of sowing discord among the people in Sabah.

He cited a long list of abuses of power, the inaction on the continuing influx of illegal immigrants, the takeover of native land by public-listed companies from Peninsular Malaysia, the unfair distribution of business opportunities and wealth and the unfair oil royalty rate.

"We know Rais is one leader who feels that he must continuously speak his mind in local and international venues," noted Jambun.

"But when he comes to Sabah and accuses some of sowing discord, he may have done himself a disservice, not only because he appears to be against free expression, he also appears fearful of developments in Sabah and Sarawak," he added.

Jambun wondered whether Rais wanted to demonise free speech in the wake of the March 8 political tsunami last year in Peninsular Malaysia.

"The winds of change have begun to sweep across Sabah and Sarawak as well and he knows this very well as information minister.

"He knows that he has less than three years to help get things right. Otherwise, the next political tsunami will be a totally devastating one," he added.

Jambun hoped that Rais' 'sowing discord' remark is not the beginning of a new wave to demonise the opposition.

He feared that the information minister is in fact trying to find an avenue to become the 'hero on a white horse' for the ruling coalition.

If so, he pointed out that it comes at a time when the prime minister has pledged meaningful reforms and re-branding of the BN to make the coalition more acceptable to the people.