Zahid defends Guan Eng in temple demolition issue

KUALA LUMPUR - Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has come out to defend DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng against allegations that he deliberately raised the 3R issues of religion, royalty and race when he touched on Buddhist temple demolition by the green wave.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that somebody deliberately brought up the issue and attempted to discredit the former Finance Minister.

He also perceived the allegation that aimed to discredit Guan Eng as a character assassination.

"No, I had also read the report. It happened a while ago, but it was brought up to discredit Lim Guan Eng.

"I think that even if we differ politically, it's better to have that difference with commandable political morals. Don't choose character assassination," he said.

He said this to reporters after officiating the National Entrepreneur Week and the National Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Week 2023 at Dataran Merdeka on Sunday.

An online media portal had reported recently that Guan Eng had warned Penang voters to stop the green wave from setting its foot in the state,claiming that it would result in the destruction of Buddhist temples and non-Muslims facing various restrictions.

Following that, Umno Youth leader Dr Akmal Saleh urged the police to investigate the statement as a stern warning to not play around with 3R issues regardless of party.

However, Guan Eng denied that he had ever claimed that Perikatan Nasional (PN) would demolish temples if it succeeded in capturing Penang.

He insisted that his speech had been twisted as if someone wanted to demolish Buddhist or Chinese temples.