PM and Home Minister must take urgent action against rising tension over socks issue, says PKR MP

PETALING JAYA: A government lawmaker has called on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to take urgent action to stop the rising tension surrounding the controversial socks issue.

Pasir Gudang Member of Parliament, Hassan Abdul Karim, said the country’s leaders need to act fast before it's too late.

“The public demands the Prime Minister and the Home Minister to come out with an executive action based on the rule of law so the people are safe and Malaysia does not fall into the destruction of racial and ethnic division,” he said in a statement on Saturday (March 30).

The PKR MP issued such a statement following the second petrol bomb attack involving another KK Super Mart store, this time in Kuantan, Pahang.

He added that His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, the King of Malaysia, has spoken on the matter and decreed it to the public, urging all parties to stop taking advantage of the situation, as the matter is already in the legislative process.

“The Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, and the IGP (Inspector-General of the Police) have also spoken.

“They have shared their advice and guidance so all the threats of racial and religious tension will be eased,” he added.

Earlier on Saturday, Kuantan police chief Asst Comm Wan Mohd Zahari Wan Busu said an unknown individual had hurled a petrol bomb at the entrance to the store in Sungai Isap here at about 5.14am.

The first petrol bomb incident was reported in Bidor, Perak, on March 26, but the petrol bomb, which hit the five-foot walkway in front of the shop, did not ignite.

On March 26, the Shah Alam Sessions Court charged KK Supermart & Superstore Sdn Bhd group founder and executive chairman Datuk Seri Dr Chai Kee Kan and his wife, Datin Seri Loh Siew Mui, with two counts of wounding the religious feelings of others over the sale of the controversial socks.

The duo pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.