Nizar says sorry over remarks on Johor Sultan’s WWW 1 bid

PETALING JAYA: Former Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin has offered “a thousand apologies” if his remarks on the Johor royalty's successful bid for the car registration number WWW 1 had caused hurt or disappointment.

He said he was “heart-stricken” by claims that the remarks were seditious.

“What I said was out of sincere concern as a layman, looking at how the entire nation is suffering. If I have caused any ill-feeling or embarrassment to anyone, it was not my intention. A thousand apologies from me,” said Mohammad Nizar.

He said the tweet by Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim that the royal family did not take any money from the Government “did not implicate me”.

“If you were to read Tunku Ismail's tweet, it does not say that it is me but is telling all Malaysians,” he said, adding that he had not heard from the royal family on whether he had offended them.

Mohammad Nizar also pledged to cooperate with the Johor police task force set up to investigate the matter.

“A DSP Sanawi called me from Skudai earlier to set up a meeting to get my statement and question me. We will confirm the exact date soon,” he said.

The PAS MP had tweeted that the RM520,000 spent for the bid could have been utilised for the poor, leading to calls for a public apology to the royal family and the lodging of five police reports in Johor.

It was reported recently that the Sultan of Johor was the owner of the WWW 1 number plate with a winning bid of RM520,000.

Subsequently, the Tunku Mahkota had written on his Twitter account @HRHJohor2 that the money allocated to his father and him every month as the Sultan and Tunku Mahkota was put into Yayasan Iskandar and Yayasan Ibrahim.

“The purpose of these foundations is to help the rakyat and assist the state government,” he said.

He stressed that he had never taken a single sen from the Government, adding that “before you open your mouth, do your research”.

Maintaining that his remarks were not seditious, Mohammad Nizar said there were “more seditious remarks out there”.

“I didn't intend to hurt or ridicule anybody. I maintain it wasn't sedition. I was merely echoing the statement of the man in the street. Why are they focusing on me?

“It is highly interesting that a small tweet like this can cause a stir throughout the whole nation. It is a small, unwanted tweet as opposed to other matters which are more seditious,” he said.

He said it was evident that money was a concern for Malaysians as shown by the Government's aid schemes and transformation programmes.

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