Lim Kit Siang has urged Umno and BN leaders to make up their minds with regard to the accusations levelled at him.

He said that while Umno claims that Dr Mahathir Mohamad is his stooge, MCA and Gerakan leaders argue that it is the other way around.

“Can Umno/BN make up their minds as to who is whose stooge and puppet?” Lim asked in a statement released today.

In reality, the DAP veteran and MP for Gelang Patah said, Mahathir is not his stooge, and neither is he dancing to the tune of the former prime minister.

“Mahathir is over 91 years of age and had been prime minister for 22 years. Why should he become my stooge? And how have I suddenly become so powerful to become kingmaker?” he asked.

“I am 76, having dedicated myself to 51 years of active involvement in politics because of my love for Malaysia, to ensure the country becomes a model prosperous and democratic plural nation...

“I have been twice detained under the Internal Security Act, hauled to court countless times on trumped-up charges, my son Guan Eng had been detained under the ISA and gone to jail and lost his position as Member of Parliament to defend an underaged girl. Why should I become a puppet of Mahathir?” he questioned further.

Stating that Mahathir and he have strong views and opinions, Lim said they cooperate on the basis of being patriotic Malaysians who believe that they must work together to save Malaysia from becoming a failed state.

He said the current crop of Umno and BN leaders fail to understand that in politics, there are other roles, apart from being a stooge or a puppet.

'Breathing fire, eating babies for breakfast'

Lim also claimed that there appears to be a change with regard to the decades-old policy of him being blacked out by the mainstream media.

Describing it as a “new phenomenon”, the DAP leader said he has been appearing almost daily in publications and television stations that shunned him in the past.

“But there were no news, facts or truth, but downright lies, falsehood and fake news to demonise me, describing me as a devil, a hantu, puaka or even jembalang, as if I breathe fire or eat babies for breakfast, that I am anti-Malay, anti-Islam, that I was the cause of the May 13 racial riots in 1969 (exactly 48 years ago) although I was never in Kuala Lumpur during that period and was in fact in Kota Kinabalu on that tragic day,” he added.

The reason for this, claimed Lim, is simple and rooted in the fear of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, as well as of his advisers, of losing in the next general election.

“They are doing their utmost to frighten the Malay voters from supporting DAP, Pakatan Harapan and Bersatu by escalating and intensifying their demonisation of DAP and myself,” he said.

However, Lim is confident this plot will fail, claiming it would be more beneficial for his political adversaries to address the real political and economic reasons why there is such a great and unprecedented restiveness and unhappiness among traditional Umno ground and even among the 1.6 million government servants.

“I will not be surprised if, for the first time, the majority of the civil servants vote against Umno in the 14th general election, although publicly they must be seen as faithful supporters of Umno,” he added.