Nurul fears fracas marks 'new era of violence'

Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, whose event at her constituency last night was pelted with eggs, rocks and mineral water bottles, raised fears that the attack marks a new, “dangerous era” for Malaysian politics.

Speaking to reporters today, Nurul (second from left in photo) said the violence last night was “the worst” she has experienced since 1998, and that it may escalate as the general election nears.

“Don’t allow physical violence and inculcate a culture of fear. People are now scared of lodging (police) reports... (the perpetrators also) live there.

“My fear is things will disintegrate... and it will be much worse when we approach the general election.

"A clear message must be made by the PM himself, if not I will hold him responsible (for the violence),” she said.

According to the MP, of the two people injured, only the father of 12-year-old Nurul Balqish Mohd Isa (right), who was hurt when a rock landed on her wrist, has lodged a police report.

“Balqish is now undergoing further checks on the extent of the injury,” Nurul Izzah said, adding that the elderly man who suffered facial injuries is now recuperating.

To add to the intimidation, she said, her office in Pantai Dalam was  pelted with more eggs about 10am today.

Nurul Izzah and her staff members will be lodging a report later today. 

Besides the injuries, the PKR vice-president said that she spotted “many with egg remains on their clothing” last night, while the car of PAS’ Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, who was at the event, had a punctured tyre.

“His car was parked nearby and one of the tyres was slashed,” she said.

Staff intimidated

The MP’s political secretary Fahmi Fadzil also claims to have been “surrounded” by about 50 men dressed in red about 9 last night.

“I was standing outside the compound of Apartmen Pantai Permai and was on the phone when the men started yelling at me and surrounding me.

“Afraid that anything untoward might happen, I walked into the apartment area... I understand that four Lembah Pantai PKR staff members were also targeted,” he said.

The PKR division’s election director Md Zaman Md Tasi, who is a Lembah Pantai local, said he recognised the men as local Umno members.

Meanwhile, PKR’s Batu MP Tian Chua, who was also at the scene last night, observed that such violence did not occur at other opposition events elsewhere in Kuala Lumpur.

“All this happens only in Lembah Pantai. We had a ceramah in Batu two weeks ago, in Wangsa Maju, Setiawangsa, all over KL, and they were never so violent.

“Every time we enter Lembah Pantai we have to face either police action, gangsters and now bloodshed, which reflects on (Lembah Pantai Umno chief) Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin’s desperation and failed leadership,” he said.

Lembah Pantai Umno deputy chief Mohd Aziz Abdul Razak, when contacted, said that he had already left the scene when the purported violence happened.

However, he said that “it should not have happened”, echoing Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin who condemned the violence and promised an investigation.

Najib's 'silent blessing'? 

Meanwhile DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang blasted Prime Minister Najib Razak and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein for “encouraging a political culture of aggression, thuggery and violence by their failure to condemn the recent series of disruptions and attacks on Pakatan Rakyat functions”.

“Is this the example Najib is setting for the world on what he meant when he called for a Global Movement of Moderates to isolate and marginalise the extremists?” he quipped in a statement today.

He noted that “the prime minister, the deputy prime minister, the home minister, Umno/Barisan Nasional Ministers and leaders are continuing to comment on all sorts of things under the sun” yet they have remained silent on the recent rash of violence.

Lim charged that this would only imply that Najib and Hishammuddin were “seeking to convey with their silence, what could only be construed as ‘silent blessing’” for such acts.