Seng Giaw a patriot, says Rahman Dahlan

The minister in the Prime Minister's Department becomes the latest BN leader to praise the maverick DAP MP.

KOTA KINABALU: DAP’s Tan Seng Giaw continues to get praise from Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders following his party’s decision to drop him from the coming polls, this time from Umno Supreme Council member Abdul Rahman Dahlan who hailed the eight-term MP as a patriot.

“Although he is with the opposition, to me Dr Tan is a patriot. What he spoke all this while, in or out of Parliament, especially on issues related to 1MDB, those came from the heart of a leader who is sincere,” said the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

Rahman said he sympathised with Tan, saying it was the price he paid for siding “with the truth”.

“DAP is not for the truth. That is why they are willing to sacrifice all their principles,” he told FMT.

He said DAP “sacrificed” Tan because the party had no integrity.

Prime Minister Najib Razak had recently said Tan was dropped from DAP’s Kuala Lumpur line-up for the coming polls because he spoke “the truth” about 1MDB.

“This is what happens to someone who told the truth on 1MDB and refused to toe the party line,” Najib had said.

Tan, who was the Public Accounts Committee vice-chairman, had said Najib was not involved in 1MDB’s dealings as he was only the chairman of its advisory board.

He had also said that the culprits behind 1MDB’s problems were “the board of directors and management, and those who ran the company”.

Tan recently told FMT that he was standing by his statement that Najib should not be held accountable for the dealings of the state firm.

“The Auditor-General’s Report has not been released to the public. Many people do not know its contents, so for them to comment is baseless,” he added. “I have read it many times.”

Meanwhile, Rahman said during international conferences attended by parliamentarians, Tan had shown his patriotism.

“I remember there was a forum in Laos and a neighbouring country wanted to make amendments to the conference’s final declaration because it was not putting enough pressure on Malaysia.

“Before I could even speak as a BN parliamentarian, he pressed the button and said ‘I don’t agree’,” said Rahman.

“Although with the opposition, he would defend the country when there’s something that could offend Malaysia.” - Mkini