ISKANDAR PUTERI: The Opposition has been reminded not to go overboard with its statements to gain public support.
Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said that the Opposition needed to be constructive and responsible in their conduct.
"In the excitement to come out with strategies in winning the next general election, I hope that the Opposition would not use old and unethical tactics to influence the public to go to the streets.
"There needs to be some ethics and there are limits in politics. This is important if we are serious in having a bipartisan relationship as suggested by the Perling assemblyman (Johor Opposition leader Liew Chin Tong)," the Johor Mentri Besar said in his winding-up speech at the state assembly sitting here on Sunday (June 26).
He added that the state government was prepared to have a bipartisan relationship with the state Opposition for the benefits of Johoreans.
"However, this must be done sincerely by both parties. Do not say one thing in this hall and another on social media.
"For example, recently a state DAP leader had told the people to take to the streets to protest the rising cost of living. He alleged that the government is sleeping.
"Has he forgotten that the state government had allocated RM144mil to help the people under the Bantuan Kasih Bangsa Johor or that the Prime Minister had announced aid to some 8.5 million Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia recipients?" he asked.
Onn Hafiz was referring to a statement by former Paloh assemblyman Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali, who is also DAP central executive committee member, who urged the people to go to the streets and make their voices heard on the rising cost of living.
On Friday (June 24), Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar said that he was against the street protests proposed by the DAP leader to pressure the government on the issue.
He said there are many constructive ways of addressing the issue of rising cost of living but street protests were not among them.
“This is not a responsible way of finding a solution to the problem. There are many constructive ways to do so.
“Have we not learned enough from the street protests of the past? Have they forgotten the riots of 1969, and more recently, the Bersih riots? It never achieved anything, except chaos, destruction and a black mark on our nation’s history.
“Protesting on the streets is not the Malaysian way. There will be no winners when this happens. There will only be losers, and who knows how long it will take for scars to heal,” Sultan Ibrahim said in a Facebook post.
