PUTRAJAYA: The political differences between Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and an outspoken Umno division leader is a private matter which should not be reported by the media, said Datuk Dr Puad Zarkashi.
Dr Puad, an Umno supreme council member, was referring to an article in The Star last month in which Cheras Umno chief Datuk Seri Syed Ali Alhabshee had advised Shahrizat to make way for new blood in the wing following her decision to defend her post as Wanita chief.
The Star's article was based on one of the many postings by Syed Ali regarding Shahrizat and the Wanita Umno election that Syed Ali had published in his widely-followed blog, umnobahagiancheras.blogspot.com.
"It is a problem between Syed Ali and Shahrizat, but if it is made into a matter to show as if Umno is in trouble, it is my role to ask The Star what is its agenda. We will not allow anyone, especially outsiders, to pit Umno leaders against each other or to disturb the peace and stability in Umno," he said.
Dr Puad, who lost in the general election, had called a press conference after receiving a letter from the legal representatives of The Star.
The letter requested that he stopped publishing and/or uttering defamatory words against paper.
Dr Puad, who had questioned the article via several statements in Utusan Malaysia and the New Straits Times, said he had viewed the legal letter as a means to threaten him.
"This act (the letter) showed that he (Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai) had not acted fairly, as if not wanting to carry out press freedom. My role is to defend Umno and that is why I questioned his agenda but he is trying to scare me with the letter," he said.
He also claimed during the press conference that The Star had not highlighted DAP's CEC (central executive committee) polls blunder.
On the contrary, The Star has published more than 40 news articles and news analyses on the DAP CEC election issue over the last few months.
Meanwhile, The Star group chief editor Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai said the matter was now in the hands of paper's lawyers Shearn Delamore & Co.
He urged politicians, regardless of their political leanings, not to intimidate the media with demands on what to report.
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