In the latest round of the “Battle of Kuala Kubu Baharu”, outspoken Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal has swiftly returned fire at his counterpart from Umno, Dr Akmal Saleh, over the issue of vernacular schools; this was after the latter had appeared to have “mocked” him over his alleged shift in stance on the matter.
For the record, NST had reported earlier that the vocal Umno Youth chief had cheekily posted photos of news headlines on his social media with one taken in 2020 entitled "Bersatu Youth insists vernacular schools must be closed" while another more recent one was entitled "PN won't close vernacular schools." He had then accompanied that by questioning the apparent contradiction: “Surely you are not changing your stand just for votes?”
Meanwhile, in an obvious response to that, the UK-educated Perikatan Nasional MP for Machang then took to his Facebook page to remind the Umno Youth chief to first “reprimand” his party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi!
Not mincing words, Wan Fayhsal alleged that Zahid had literally made a “pact with the devil” by backtracking on the sumpah laknat (a religious oath/swear) he had made prior to GE15 which was “never to work with Anwar and the DAP!”
He then trained his guns at DAP strongman Nga Kor Ming for allegedly violating election rules by announcing a special allocation for Kuala Kubu Baru worth RM5.21mil, adding that the Teluk Intan MP had insulted the intellect of the people there by jokingly claiming they deserved the allocation as the place has ong, which may be roughly translated as having good luck/fortune.
The clearly agitated deputy PN Youth chief then went on to raise suspicion over the timing of Nga's announcement which was followed by news that his former press secretary Pang Sock Tao had been selected as PH’s candidate for the by-election; according to him the people there are bound to question the rationale for this and wonder whether the right selection had been made in the best interest of the constituents.
Wan Fayhsal further expressed his disappointment with PH leaders who according to him have always appeared to champion professionalism and good ethics to be displayed during elections; however, apparently they have now made a “u-turn” by allegedly giving out “bribes” openly, to the extent they have even been flagged by the electoral watchdog group Bersih.
The irrepressible Bersatu Youth chief then fired a warning shot at PM Anwar’s coalition asking them to be “ready to be punished” by the people there come election day, saying it has become clear now that all their “sweet promises” were mere rhetoric!
Earlier, on his Facebook, Wan Fayhsal had also taken a swipe at communications minister Fahmi Fadzil for allegedly “deceiving” the public by claiming that the 13% hike in salary for civil servants announced by PM Anwar was the highest in Malaysian history; according to him, one had to factor in the soaring cost of goods, the introduction of new taxes as well as the increase in the tariff for water and electricity charges. So, apparently, it was not a big deal?
In fact, last Friday (May 3) Wan Fayhsal who is no stranger to controversy, had warned a local news portal Malaysia Dateline to remove a report and apologise to him for alleging that he and the opposition coalition were out to “sabotage” the said salary increase announced by PMX; he had also threatened legal action. But it's left to be seen whether he will carry out the threat?
Incidentally, in March this year, former Perak PKR leader Farhash Wafa Salvador had filed a defamation suit against him for RM10 million, alleging that the former aide to PM Anwar had conspired to influence opposition MPs from his coalition to support the ruling government; however, the Bersatu youth leader had said the lawsuit would not affect his focus and attention from continuing to speak out on issues concerning public interests and that he was willing to meet in court.
Meanwhile, as the election battle intensifies with endless twists and turns plus unexpected u-turns as well as new intriguing sub-plots panning out almost daily, the crystal ball seems to be getting murkier; will the incumbents continue to hold the "fort" or will Kuala “Kubu” Baharu have “new” owners come May 11? Judging by his all-out attacks on the enemy, it's doubtful if even the usually brash and confident Wan Fayhsal is so sure of who the victor will be.
Information Source: New Straits Times, New Straits Times, and Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Facebook
JK Joseph is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
