DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng panned MCA president Liow Tiong Lai for allegedly diverting MCA's feud with Umno supreme council member Nazri Abdul Aziz to the DAP.

This was after Liow accused Lim of failing to tick off Nazri after the culture and tourism minister launched a tirade against tycoon Robert Kuok, who is seen as a respectable figure in the Chinese community. 

However, Lim said he had already criticised Nazri but his comments were not carried by the government-controlled press.

"DAP leaders had condemned both Umno and its leaders, including Nazri (for attacking Kuok). The latest statement by me was March 2, one day before the MCA’s 69th-anniversary celebration.

"However, my March 2 statement was not published in the BN media. Liow (photo) is now hammering me for not condemning Umno when his own media did not print it," Lim said in a statement today.

Furthermore, he said MCA should not whitewash the Kuok issue as several Umno leaders had attacked the tycoon and had similarly not apologised.

"Let me reiterate that DAP condemns not only Nazri, but the entire Umno for their fake news, dishonesty and vitriolic attacks against Malaysian business icon Kuok.

"MCA should not try to white-wash Umno’s racist and extremist attacks against Kuok by reducing this to an act of one single person(Nazri) when it is an all-out assault by Umno as a party.

"Not only Nazri but key Umno leaders ranging from deputy minister Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, to ministers Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and Azalina Othman made vicious personal attacks that had no basis against Kuok. Even the prime minister himself got into the act to reprimand Robert Kuok," he said.

Umno leaders had attacked Kuok after blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin alleged the tycoon was funding the DAP.

Kuok denied the claim and said he reserved the right to take legal action against Raja Petra. 

Najib, who previously said Kuok's success was due to BN giving him the "key", welcomed businessperson's statement, prompting a ceasefire by other Umno leaders. 

However, Nazri, who has had a history of feuds with the MCA, continued to attack the party after it singled him out for an apology.