KUALA LUMPUR – Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Mohd Nassuruddin Daud has told the pair of Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) state representatives to stop being overly sensitive over his remarks about them allegedly not supporting “perjuangan Islam” (the Islamic struggle).
This comes in response to recent developments, where Nassruddin was called upon by the two opposition lawmakers to issue a public apology for his comments, which they characterised as “extreme.”
Standing by his previous assertion, Nassuruddin warned certain quarters against twisting his words, claiming that he had labelled the duo as opponents of the struggle for Islam, not the religion itself.
“In my recent religious lecture, I mentioned that they (the two opposition assemblymen) opposed Islam’s struggles. I did not say they were against Islam. There is a difference between being against Islam’s struggles and being against Islam.
“Those who wish to be involved in politics should not be so easily ‘koyak’ (offended),” he said today, as reported by several news sites.
Nassuruddin, who is also Meranti assemblyman, added that he has yet to receive the letter of demand that was supposedly issued by legal representatives for one of the two opposition assemblymen, BN’s Galas representative Mohd Syahbuddin Hashim, earlier today.
“A public apology can only be issued if a person has made a wrong statement. There is no need (for an apology) if the statement is true. Would anyone apologise if their statement is true?
“We’ll see if he even sends the letter. For now, I have not received the notice. When he sends it, we’ll look at it and analyse the details,” he added.
In a joint press conference earlier today, Mohd Syahbuddin and PH’s Dr Hafidzah Mustakim of Kota Lama said that they would be initiating a civil lawsuit if Nassuruddin did not apologise for his comments.
Noting that such “cynical and arrogant” remarks should be avoided in the future, Mohd Syahbuddin said that his lawyers would be sending over a notice of demand to Nassuruddin today. The Meranti assemblyman has seven days to apologise.
On Friday, during a talk where he thanked voters for the support given to Perikatan Nasional (PN) during the recently concluded state elections, Nassuriddin lamented the coalition’s failure to achieve a clean sweep in Kelantan.
He then suggested that people can look to BN and PH-held seats in the state if they were asked about leaders who are “against the struggle for Islam.”
Nassuruddin’s comments came just days after he said the state government will take a mature approach to strengthening its relationship with the federal government for the well-being of the people.
The state elections on August 12 saw PN secure 43 out of the 45 seats available in the Kelantan state legislative assembly. – August 20, 2023