KUCHING, April 23: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi advised Barisan Nasional (BN) component party members and constituents in Sarawak to be positive when facing the general election (GE14).
He said intra-party issues occurring among BN component parties were quite normal at every election and thus urged constituents and party members not to overreact and be jittery.
“Not all areas in Sarawak are white, so we must work very hard to ensure that we win the GE14. As for the black areas we will work hard to at least shift the constituents’ support to BN,” said Zahid.
Asked if he was confident that Sarawak could deliver 29 seats in the coming GE14, Zahid said: “We are trying hard and we have to have very positive thinking about it.
“I think what we are facing, although encountering some intra-party problems, this is quite normal in any election — general elections, state elections, and even by-elections.”
Meanwhile, Zahid was also asked on the repercussion of the Anti-Fake News Act. He said this new law was gazetted not due to political interests but for the benefit of the people in general.
He said he encountered cases where non-politicians became victims of fake news and were seriously affected by their predicaments.
With this law, action can be taken against fake news spread through social media, he added.
“We are a democratic country and we appreciate freedom of speech, but we do not condone freely spreading fake news with the purpose of destroying individuals,” said Zahid.
Asked if speculative news could be considered as fake news, Zahid replied: “That depends on the legal interpretation, up to the court to decide if it’s speculative news or not.” — DayakDaily
