Najib trades blows with Kit Siang

KOTA KINABALU: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (pic) has chided DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang for calling the party’s win in Sandakan a knockout blow to his “Bossku” campaign.

“DAP has won big in Sandakan, congratulations to DAP,” Najib said in a Facebook post.

“But he has said that this is a knockout blow to me when I was only in Sandakan for half a day and had one talk with the people,” he said.

He added that his visit to Sandakan was a request by Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) to help the opposition party in its campaign.

“But me being said to have been knocked out once again shows his obsession with me,” Najib wrote.

He said Lim had campaigned for days at Cameron Highlands and Semenyih for the by-elections, with dozens of talks held, but Pakatan Harapan still lost.

“None of us from Barisan Nasional came out so arrogant as to say that all these victories meant knockout blows to Kit Siang,” he said.

Najib said by the same logic, the dwindling stock market had fallen further last week, making it the lowest in over three years.

“Does this also mean that this is a knockout blow to his son?” he said in reference to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

On Saturday, Kit Siang had said in a statement that “Vivian Wong’s victory in the Sandakan by-election is a national turnaround, wiping out the three Pakatan Harapan by-election defeats of Cameron Highlands, Semenyih and Rantau”.

He also called it a “knockout blow” to Najib’s “shameless” Malu Apa Bossku campaign.

The tagline has been used by Najib since he created the persona “Bossku” to successfully campaign in the past three by-elections.

Najib, however, believes that PBS and Barisan will learn from the Sandakan by-election to fix their flaws.

“Our fighting spirit will not be diminished,” he said.