Umno denies behind ‘Selangor Kita’

By Neville Spykerman - The Malaysian Insider

SHAH ALAM, Feb 26 — Umno Selangor has denied all knowledge of the new Selangor Kita newspaper, which Pakatan Rakyat (PR) said was part of a plot to undermine the state government.

“What is that? Is it being printed by the Selangor government?” asked Selangor Umno information chief, Abdul Shukur Idrus, when asked by to comment on the newspaper, which was freely distributed at official Maulidur Rasul functions today.

PAS deputy commissioner, Dr Che Rosli Che Mat had earlier today described the newspaper as being biased against PR and highly defamatory.

The Hulu Langat MP, who picked up a copy as he was leaving the Maulidur Rasul celebrations at the Shah Alam stadium this morning, slammed those responsible for taking advantage of the religious event to distribute the paper.

The tabloid, which had a cover price of RM2, did not appear to have a printing and publication license, which is mandatory for newspapers in the country.

“No, no, no. We’re not behind it,” said Abdul Shukur, who added Selangor Umno did not print any newspapers.

Among the headlines of the Malay language newspaper were “Arak Menu Biasa di Selango (Alcohol freely available on Selangor’s menus)”, “Selangor ‘Darul Urut’ (land of massage parlours)” and “Pengakuan Mangsa liwat Anwar (confession of Anwar’s sodomy victim)”. The newspaper also carried a Sept 6, 2000 Timeasia.com interview with openly gay journalist Ashley Lee, with the headline “During the Anwar Trial it Was Easy to Get Lucky”.

The articles in the newspaper also targeted Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, state executive councillor Ronnie Liu and the PKR’s Azmin Ali.