Melaka Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Adly Zahari has dismissed as slander a claim by Umno supreme council member Ahmad Maslan that top DAP leaders are reluctant to accept honorary titles such as ‘Datuk’ because of the party’s stance on the institution of the Malay rulers.
The Amanah vice-president said the allegation was an attempt to discredit PH during the Melaka state election campaign.
“Therefore, I conclude that the statement is slander,” he said at PH’s daily press conference at the coalition’s main operations room here.
Adly also pointed out that several DAP leaders had received honorary titles during PH’s time in government, including in Melaka.
“A top DAP leader, Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang, also received a title,” he said.
Ahmad’s allegations against DAP
Ahmad, who is also deputy works minister, reportedly made the claim during a ceramah in Kampung Lendu Dalam last night.
He alleged that DAP leaders were reluctant to accept honorary titles because they did not wish to recognise the position and institution of the Malay rulers.
He said this was one of the ideological differences between Umno and DAP, alongside disagreements over the concept of a secular state and the position of Islam in the Federal Constitution.
