It is “ridiculous” for BN’s Dudong candidate Tiong Thai King to blame the opposition for the 1MDB debacle, by saying it is because the opposition did not keep the government in check, DAP said.

Oscar Ling, DAP's election director for Sibu, instead questioned what Tiong was doing on the matter, as he was serving Lanang MP when 1MDB started in 2009.

“Blaming the opposition in this 1MDB issue is ridiculous. The 1MDB issue started in 2009 and in 2010, Tiong was still Lanang MP.

“What was he doing then? Was he involved in 1MDB, because he did not say anything when he was MP.

“It is ridiculous to blame the opposition for not doing their job,” the Sibu MP told reporters in a press conference at DAP’s Sibu office today.

Tiong in an interview with China Press said the 1MDB issue escalated to the scale it is today because the opposition failed to perform its duty to monitor the government.

“They (the opposition) failed to monitor the government and stop this from happening.

“They failed to do their job, so why should we continue to vote for them?” he is quoted as saying.

As such, he urged voters to support Sarawak BN candidates so the party would have a bigger mandate to develop the state.

Stands by his remarks

Tiong stood by his remarks when grilled by reporters at a press conference in Sibu this morning.

“Why can't they (the opposition) advise the government (after) the controversy had begun?" he asked.

Tiong was then asked if the BN government should take responsibility as these controversies happened during its rule.

He said MPs from both side of the political divide should be responsible, but stressed all government plans are meant to help the people.

"Every government plan is for the people, for the country, for Sarawakians. Every one of them is good; the problem is there are discrepancies when executing them," he said.