ALOR STAR: A Kedah Umno Youth wing leader has hit back at Amanah's Tangga Batu Youth chief Ahmad Azri Abdullah over his criticism against national Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Salleh over the Pardon Board's decision to reduce Datuk Seri Najib Razak's sentence.
Pokok Sena Umno Youth chief Mohd Farhan Ahmad took a dig at Azri for being rude in denying Umno members' rights to seek justice for the former party president.
"Azri accused the Umno Youth chief of not being wise, orderly, and careful in managing the spectrum of various supporters and supposedly being too harsh against the voice of the people and partners (in the unity government) who found it hard to accept the Pardon Board's decision.
"I deliberately chose the two points above to remind the Tangga Batu Amanah Youth chief that to date there is no official statement from the national Umno Youth chief regarding the Pardon Board's decision.
"The one who is being rude is you, who try to deny the rights of Umno members or Umno supporters who are demanding justice for Datuk Seri Najib Razak," he said in a statement.
Farhan added that Najib was seeking justice by seeking a retrial for his case.
"The process of signing a petition among the Umno grassroots members to His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia for a fresh pardon application is also underway," he said.
Therefore, Farhan urged Azri to refer to the matter to the national Amanah Youth leadership or the party's top leadership before issuing any statement.
"I believe it is better if the Tangga Batu Amanah Youth chief communicated directly with the national Umno Youth leadership to convey his message.
"It's good for you to express your stance, but we in Umno Youth have our own stance that also represents the voice of the people and the grassroots.
"Let's all aim for respectful communication without any need for rudeness, alright? Differences should be celebrated, not used to seek popularity," added Farhan.
Azri, in his statement on Tuesday has reminded Dr Akmal against "adding duel into the engulfing fire" by speculating as if there were hidden hands behind the Pardon Board's decision.
Azri claimed that to make things worse, Dr Akmal had strongly criticised the people's voice and partners who found it hard to accept the Pardon Board's decision based on contradicting reasons with the Umno Youth chief, on the ground that Najib was not supposed to be accorded with the reduction for his sentence.
He had also called for Dr Akmal to stop belittling the people's rage and frustration.
On Feb 2, the Federal Territories Pardons Board reduced Najib's fine from RM210 million to RM50 million, and halved his 12-year jail term in his conviction for three counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT) and one charge of abusing his position on SRC International funds totalling RM42 million.
However, the decision did not go down well with several Umno leaders who felt that the former Pekan member of Parliament should have been granted a full pardon.
On Tuesday, the NST reported that Umno division chiefs have been instructed to collect one million signatures to be sent to His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, in a petition to obtain a full pardon for Najib.