Shadow Policy Committee

By Shannon Teoh The DAP demanded today that Datuk Seri Najib Razak replace the Utusan Malaysia editors and reporters responsible for the “false report” of a plot by the DAP and pastors to install a Christian prime minister to usurp Islam’s position in the constitution. Party Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng said that this was the only way for the prime minister to convince Malaysians that Umno disagrees with the “dangerous lies” printed by the newspaper that his party owns. The Bagan MP said that Najib must “direct Utusan Malaysia to withdraw and apologise for the false report and replace the editors and reporters involved in such dangerous lies that can burn 1 Malaysia.” Utusan Malaysia carried a front-page article on Saturday headlined “Kristian agama rasmi?” (Christianity the official religion?), claiming the DAP was conspiring with Christian leaders to take over Putrajaya and abolish Islam as the religion of the federation. The report, based entirely on unsubstantiated blog postings ...

By Clara Chooi The Najib administration’s latest “Christmas blunder” has religious leaders in a mad scramble to explain to Christians that the church had not bowed to a directive to remove religious symbols during a Christmas party a fortnight ago. The Malaysian Insider understands that over the weekend, Catholic priests were forced to address the issue as it had caused an uproar among parishioners who questioned why the church had adhered to such “overzealous” requests, allegedly made by the prime minister’s aide. But the leaders also agreed that despite their attempts at defusing the situation, the “damage has already been done”, resulting in a rekindling of the same tension that rose during last year’s “Allah” controversy. Father Simon Labrooy, who spoke on the issue during two separate masses, predicted that the Christian community’s anger was not likely to dissipate until the premier publicly clarified his stand. He agreed that the administration, now mulling snap polls, would enc...