Over the weekend, political animals converged on the area that will soon be the setting to Malaysia’s latest by-election, Semenyih, as party nominations were announced. Contesting in the area for the March 2 poll date are candidates from UMNO, Mahathir’s PPBM party, Parti Socialis Malaysia, along with a single independent runner.
However, the nomination event was overshadowed by allegations of assault coming from Malaysia’s boy wonder Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq, telling his Facebook followers that a throng of blue-shirted UMNO men crossed the line from verbal insults to physical actions.
Explaining that he was used to jeers and name-calling, he dismisses the verbal assaults as being an individual’s right. The minister explains that he arrived at the event without a driver, as he was there on his own personal time. Returning to his car in the parking lot, he claims that a group of men rushed towards him, and a few of the individuals that he identified as BN supporters physically attacked him. Luckily, police officers, and volunteers from the PAS political party were on hand to come to the aid of the minister. Without their help, he wonders what would have become of the incident.
Video from the event that was shared by the minister appears to illustrate his allegations: A throng of blue-shirted men jostle towards him, with auxiliary support forced to jump in and escort him to safety.
While Syed Saddiq did not name names in his post, reports emerged and were confirmed yesterday afternoon that notorious rabble-rousing blogger who’d really like for you to call him Sir Azmi, formerly known as Papagomo, real name — Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Denis — was hauled into a local police station for questioning, though no charges have been announced.
Prior to his arrest, Papagomo Sir Azmi Wan Muhammad had alleged in the comments section of Saddiq’s Facebook post that the minister provoked him, and that he was after cheap publicity.
Many ardent followers of his half-baked Malay nationalist notions echoed this.
Wan Muhammad later included more video from the incident, claiming that he was merely “hugging” the minister.
However, another user claiming to have been at the scene pointed out to the minister that the incident could have been avoided had he used the police advised routes that separated supporters of each party. Instead, the minister went into the belly of the beast, and tempers flared.
But also — you know —
Wan Muhammad made headlines last year after he was arrested for making inflammatory, racially-charged remarks following a riot at a local Hindu temple.
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