By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, May 29: Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) will consider taking legal action against Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) member Iswardy Morni over the latter’s defamation towards the State government and Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
PBB Information chief Datuk Idris Buang in a Facebook livestream today said Iswardy’s action of using derogatory words and addressing the Chief Minister as the State’s leader in an impolite manner on social media reflected his intention to incite hate towards the government.
“It is easy for you (Iswardy) to slander, complaint and stir public anger, but this is wrong and does not bring any benefit to any party.
“I demand you to not use abusive words such as “jaharu” and “jahanam” because those words are used to insult and embarass (an individual).
“Therefore, I will review from a legal perspective whether you can be charged or not under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, before instructing the party members to lodge a police report,” he said.
Yesterday, Iswardy in a Facebook video had criticised the State government of failing to address the issue of Covid-19 pandemic apart from accusing the State government of being arrogant for not following the enforcement of ‘Total Lockdown’ which will be implemented in Peninsular Malaysia effective June 1.
In the video, Iswardy also made derogatory remarks to which Idris described as “kurang ajar” (rude).
Idris took note of Iswardy’s dissatisfaction over the State’s disagreement to follow the measures introduced at the national level but he explained that the State has the rights to formulate its own measures to address the situation in the State.
“The measures introduced in Sarawak had been fine-tuned thoroughly so that our situation can be managed better, with the hopes that all the people would comply with the standard operating procedure (SOP) and curb the spread of infection.
“This sort of micro management is important to address our problem better as Sarawak also took other factors and risks into consideration before making a decision,” he added. — DayakDaily
