MP SPEAKS What a coincidence! The same day that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had lumped news portals with keyboard warriors and cybertroopers for “unhealthy practices of journalism” - in an attempt to justify the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) recent blockade of The Malaysian Insider ( TMI ) - there was another blast of lies against DAP as well.

This was in the form of an alleged list of the “richest” individuals in Malaysia ( below ) circulated on the Internet, with DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng - who is also the Penang chief minister - listed as the 22nd “richest” person in Malaysia, worth RM2.87 billion.

He is supposedly preceded by the 21 “richest” people in Malaysia.

Has Guan Eng rocketed from a jailbird to become Malaysia’s 22nd richest person - in the league of Robert Kuok and Ananda Krishnan?

I did a quick search and found that it was Forbes' 2016 ranking of 'Malaysia’s 50 Richest' and the list was correct - except for Guan Eng’s listing as the 22nd richest - when it should be Lim Wee Chai.

Guan Eng is nowhere in the list - or even among Malaysia’s richest 500, 5,000 or 50,000 - but Umno cybertroopers have no compunction to stoop so low as to “doctor” the list to malign and defame him and DAP leaders, as they have done in the past.

For example, the alleged RM1.5 billion Israeli donation to DAP in exchange for an Israeli naval base in Port Dickson, the purported DAP resolution to make Malaysia a “Christian state”, or that I had been in Kuala Lumpur and led illegal “victory” street processions hurling anti-Malay abuses which provoked the May 13, 1969, riots (when I was never in Kuala Lumpur after the May 1969 general election and had been in Kota Kinabalu on that day) - all baseless and meretricious lies.

The MCMC has urged netizens to report content which is offensive, incestuous, pornographic, and false, with its network security chief officer for the enforcement and advocacy sector, Zulkarnain Mohd Yasin asking netizens to adopt a critical approach and to report to the authorites for legal action to be taken.

However, DAP's experiences with the MCMC have been most disappointing, as numerous reports were previously lodged against false and insidious postings on social media by Umno cybertroopers against DAP leaders, yet no action whatsoever had been taken by the MCMC or the police against such blatant falsehoods.

Najib, therefore, sounded very lame when he complained about “unhealthy practices of journalism” since he had closed his own eyes to the most inflammatory and insidious abuses by Umno cybertroopers against DAP and other opposition leaders.

No justification

Najib’s lament is also no justification for the 'sledgehammer' reaction to block access to TMI , especially in retaliation to its report entitled 'Enough proof to charge Najib over SRC, says MACC oversight committee'.

The government has a plethora of laws against Internet abuse and the virtual ban on TMI is completely unjustifiable - especially as the news portal had not received any prior notice of the ban - apart from being most undemocratic, repressive, and a violation of the 20-year Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Bill of Guarantees to the world of 'No Internet Censorship'.

I urge the PM to uphold and abide by this Bill of Guarantees, immediately revoke the MCMC blockade, ensure that good sense prevails and refrain from the precipitate rush towards “parliamentary dictatorship”.

As what was first foreshadowed by the rush to enact the National Security Council (NSC) Bill in December last year, thus usurping the constitutional powers of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the cabinet, the Sarawak and Sabah state governments and the 11 state governments in the peninsula to enable the PM to unilaterally declare an unconstitutional “de facto” state of emergency.

Najib should come clean on his twin mega scandals, uphold fundamental liberties and human rights guaranteed in the constitution, and be true to the oath of office as PM to protect and defend democracy in Malaysia - instead of being the destroyer of the federal constitution and democracy.

Najib and the Umno-BN government must not arrogate to itself the prerogative of deciding for Malaysians what are truths, half-truths, lies and opinions to form their judgments, but must continue to be true and faithful to the constitutional guarantees of fundamental liberties of Malaysians, such as freedoms of speech, expression, and beliefs, and the Rukunegara principles of the supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law.

LIM KIT SIANG is the MP for Gelang Patah and DAP parliamentary leader.