SHAH ALAM: Selangor Umno Youth today turned the tables on DAP chairman Karpal Singh, blaming DAP parliamentarians for starting last week’s “scuffle” involving Karpal in the parliament building.

Denying claims that Umno Youth had planned the confrontation with Karpal, Selangor Umno Youth chief Abdul Syukur Idrus said Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad had invited the Selangor Umno Youth members to parliament on Feb 26 for lunch and to discuss ministry matters.

Abdul Syukur said the Umno Youth members had “coincidentally” ran into Karpal inside the parliament building and demanded Karpal’s explanation on why he had called Umno Youth “celaka”.

“The chaos that ensued only happened when DAP parliamentarians arrived at the scene and at that moment, Karpal had already left the area. (There is) no connection whatsoever,” Abdul Syukur told reporters at Selangor Umno’s headquarters here today.

Abdul Syukur, who is also Kuang assemblyman, added it was Karpal’s son Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo who had “loudly challenged” Umno Youth after the incident.

Umno Youth and Karpal had been at odds after the latter dubbed them “Celaka Umno Youth” and accused them of sending him a death threat and bullets by mail to his George Town home on Feb 20.

The death threat, penned in Bahasa Malaysia, was believed to be in reaction to Karpal’s threats to sue Perak Ruler Sultan Azlan Shah for the Sultan’s role in the Perak political turmoil.

Abdul Syukur also attempted to downplay the fracas, saying that anyone who claimed to have been assaulted during the incident had merely felt “a flick of the hand”.

“What happened in parliament was a minor incident. We can still control our youth from acting beyond that.

“Had Umno Youth not been spoken to by the leadership, Selangor Umno Youth would have been more antagonistic towards Karpal Singh,” Abdul Syukur said.

On their next course of action, Umno Petaling Jaya Utara division chief Latt Sharizan Abdullah said Selangor Umno Youth would send letters to Barisan Nasional MPs urging them to refer Karpal and Gobind to the committee under the Houses of Parliament (Privileges and Powers) Act 1952 for further action.

Selangor Umno Youth are also demanding that Karpal, Gobind and DAP MPs apologise to all parliamentarians and the rakyat for “telling lies” in the Dewan Rakyat about the scuffle, Latt said.

Latt also suggested a code of conduct be drawn up to govern parliamentarians’ behaviour outside the Dewan Rakyat, particularly when interacting with ordinary citizens.

Ask how the feud between Karpal and Umno Youth would play out, Latt said: “We’ll see what happens. It depends on how Karpal wants to solve this.”

When contacted, Karpal said he would issue a statement today to rebut Selangor Umno Youth’s assertions.

Latt also declined to comment on police investigations into the 22 Umno Youth members involved as well as the statements given by three Selangor Umno Youth leaders at the Bukit Aman police headquarters after the incident.

He said Selangor Umno Youth elected a lawyer to advise them on the matter and were still awaiting the findings of police investigations.

“Our good name has been tarnished in many ways, so we just want to tell our side of the story,” Latt said.