A coalition of 20 Titiwangsa-based youth groups has condemned the lobbying against the incumbent MP Johari Abdul Ghani by Kelab Aku Budak Chow Kit (KABCK), claiming that the club's relative lack of size belies an “invisible hand” behind the campaign.

1Gabungan NGO Belia dalam Parlimen Titiwangsa claimed that KABCK has no more than 100 members – far from the 2,000 it says it has – and that most are not even registered voters in the constituency.

“This confirms our suspicions that KABCK is backed by an invisible hand with ambitions to contest as a candidate for the parliamentary seat.

“If this individual is man enough, stop hiding behind KABCK and state your intentions in the open,” it said in a statement yesterday.

The coalition – which claims to have over 20,000 members in total – also challenged KABCK to list evidence that Johari is uncaring towards his constituents, and to nominate a candidate to challenge him in the coming election.

The statement was issued in response to KABCK chairperson Ahmad Ayob Ramli’s press conference on Monday, where he vowed to host a barbequed lamb party if Johari is not fielded in Titiwangsa for GE14.

"Actually, KABCK is not politically inclined in any way. We just want to tell Johari to be more concerned about his voters.

“We used to be staunch supporters of Johari, but of late, we are disappointed with his performance as an elected representative," Ayob had said.

At the press conference, the KABCK head also admitted that club members had put up anti-Johari posters and banners in Chow Kit and Keramat, images of which had gone viral on social media.

Johari, who is also the second finance minister, had decried the campaign as sabotage by someone within the Titiwangsa Umno division with aspirations of usurping him as a candidate.

‘Not Umno member’

In the statement, the coalition claimed that although Ayob is registered as a Titiwangsa voter, he neither resides within the constituency nor is an Umno member.

This, they added, calls into question Ayob’s knowledge of Johari’s contributions to Titiwangsa, as well as the KABCK chief's motives for meddling in Umno’s business.

They also claimed that KABCK’s poster campaign is malicious and aimed to incite hatred towards Johari, and thus is unethical and illegal under Section 13(1)(c)(ii) of the Societies Act 1966.

The provision allows the Registrar of Societies to cancel the registration of a society that it deems “is likely to be used for unlawful purposes or for purposes prejudicial to or incompatible with peace, welfare, good order or morality in Malaysia.”