"Good Luck! See You In Prison!" Furious UMNO Youth Blasts Tony Pua Over Najib's Pardon "Joke!"

"Good Luck! See You In Prison!" Furious UMNO Youth Blasts Tony Pua Over Najib's Pardon "Joke!"

10 Feb 2024 • 5:00 PM MYT


JK Joseph
Repentant ex-banker who believes in truth, compassion and some humour.

Credit Image: Utusan.com


Well, it seems like ex-DAP stalwart Tony Pua’s valiant attempt at trying a Mahathir-style sarcastic jibe at Najib might have boomeranged; this was after he was called out by Umno, and the police - for insulting the Agong!


In fact, according to a recent report in the Malay Mail, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Razarudin Husain had confirmed that police have opened an investigation into the comments made by Pua in relation to the Pardons Board’s decision to halve the sentence of convicted former prime minister Najib; he added that the former DAP MP for Damansara will be investigated under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.


Razarudin, then went on to clarify that Pua’s comments, which he had shared on his Facebook page, were deemed to be inciting the public to despise the royal institution since the decision was the Agong’s prerogative to make under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution.


He further highlighted some contentious lines from a series of posts by Pua which included a line that read: “Can someone send me to jail for 1 year and in exchange, pay me RM50mil?” (Read here)


Meanwhile, Umno vice-president Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail had also advised the former DAP publicity secretary to apologise for disrespecting the Pardons Board, adding that Pua’s remarks were inappropriate and insulted the country’s legal system.


The Pahang Menteri Besar further claimed that Pua’s remarks were an attempt at “cheap publicity” to stay relevant in the public eye now that the latter was no longer holding public office or involved with the Madani government; moreover, according to him, Pua had also been rejected by other DAP members.


For the record, Pua has been under fire for his Facebook posts last week about the Pardons Board’s decision to halve Najib’s jail sentence from 12 years to six and decrease the fine amount from RM210 million to RM50 million.


In another interesting development, Najib has apparently challenged Pua and another DAP leader, Ramkarpal Singh, to a debate on whether or not he deserves to be granted a royal pardon. The challenge was reportedly issued in a posting on the jailed ex-PM's official Facebook page which claimed that many people did not understand the facts of the SRC International case.


Apparently, this was after Ramkarpal, the Bukit Gelugor MP, had contended that the findings of guilt against Najib in the SRC International case were beyond doubt, and that Najib was not only convicted by a total of nine judges but also labelled a “national embarrassment” by a Federal Court judge; however, this was disputed by Najib in his Facebook post which alleged that there were irregularities at his trial in the SRC International case.



Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke, in calling out for “cool heads” to prevail, reiterated that the Pardons Board’s decision on the matter is final and that it cannot be challenged in any court of law!


However, as expected, there was fierce backlash to Pua's remarks from Umno Youth with its firebrand chief, Dr Muhammad Akmal Saleh, promptly calling for police reports to be lodged against the DAP man for disrespecting the decision made by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.


Akmal, the Merlimau state assemblyman, did not mince words, when he challenged Pua in his social media posting: "See you in court!"

Credit Image: Facebook Dr Akmal Saleh


Yet, strangely, last Friday, following the announcement of the Pardons Board’s decision, Akmal himself was quoted by FMT as claiming that his party had been “taken for a ride” without elaborating what he had meant.


Furthermore, he had also controversially lashed out in a cryptic post on his Facebook page that his party "had been played (out) and that the time had come!"


Moreover, just like Tony Pua’s own cryptic post, the Umno Youth chief too did not expressly state at whom the “threats” were aimed. Was it at PM Anwar and his unity government? Was it at his own party boss Zahid Hamidi? Or was it at the Pardons Board itself?