(Media Statement in Teluk Intan on Thursday, May 29, 2014)
The 10-day Teluk Intan by-election campaign since Nomination Day on May 19 has produced many firsts in the history of by-elections in Malaysia – like the most sexist attacks, most political bloopers including blatant political gangsterism against a woman candidate, most lies and calumnies and the most number of UMNO Ministers and deputy Ministers to appear at a by-election not contested by an UMNO candidate.
The baseless, vicious and slanderous attacks on the DAP/PR candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud were just gross and simply unimaginable, highlighting the total lack of chilvary of male political leaders in UMNO/BN but also the pettiness of women UMNO/BN political leaders who also indulged in such personal attacks on Dyana, and the failure and cowardice of all women UMNO/BN politicians who dare not raise a single protest against such sexist attacks on Dyana.
From the dastardly posting of fake swim-suit photogragh of Dyana (actually of Filipino actress Pauleen Luna) first on social media and then distributed in the Malay kampongs including a mosque in the constituency; the “lip-stick” fantasy of UMNO Housing Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan; the puerile attacks by the Home Minister, Datuk Zahid Hamidi; the boast by the Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan that his wife or the wife of Deputy Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman would win in a beauty contest against Dyana; Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir’s obsession with Dyana’s different clothes; the UMNO/BN leadership have been stripped completely naked as belonging to a shockingly low-class political genre.
Neither the UMNO/BN leadership nor the BN candidate for Teluk Intan, Datuk Mah Siew Keong, wanted to engage Dyana in a debate on the national political issues highlighted in her manifesto, as they only wanted to unleash a systematic and unethical campaign of character assassination and personal attacks to break her political will and fighting spirit, hoping that she will fly the “white flag” of surrender even before polling day of May 31. Continue reading “Teluk Intan by-election has created many firsts – most sexist attacks, most bloopers, most lies and calumnies and most number of UMNO Ministers and Deputy Ministers to appear for a candidate who is not from UMNO”