KUALA LUMPUR – Gerakan president Datuk Dominic Lau earned public ire after his tweet suggesting his intentions to contest Pulai parliamentary seat following the death of its incumbent, Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub, less than 24 hours ago.
In a now-deleted post on his official Twitter account, Lau questioned if it would be acceptable for him to name himself as a candidate for the seat, saying: “Would it be okay if I contested in the Pulai by-election?”
According to screenshots of the now deleted tweet which have since made the rounds on Twitter, the posting was made at 12.37pm today.
Salahuddin, who was also Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister, was buried at the Jalan Sulong Serkat Muslim cemetery in Tanjung Piai, Johor at noon today.
Lau’s statement received backlash from various quarters, including Umno supreme council member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam, who criticised Lau for his inappropriate timing.
“Even if you do want to contest in the by-election, wait a few days before announcing (the matter).
“(Salahuddin) was just buried. Please be more sensitive,” Lokman said in a tweet.
Expressing similar sentiments, Twitter user @4177R pointed out that Lau had not even expressed his condolences over Salahuddin’s passing before “rudely” sharing his intentions to contest for the parliamentary constituency.
He also took a swipe at Gerakan’s fellow Perikatan Nasional component member PAS, accusing Lau of causing embarrassment to the Islamist party.
“What is the wisdom in aligning yourself with PAS if you don’t even have any empathy? Has the spirit of ‘tarbiah’ and ‘tabligh’ been lost among PAS leaders?” he queried.
A number of other users on the platform shared their disdain for Lau’s comment under a post by @bumilangit, who posted a screenshot of Lau’s offending tweet with the caption: “Do you think the problem is solved by deleting your post?”
The post has gained over 400 retweets as of press time.
Salahuddin, who was also Amanah deputy president, died at the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Alor Setar at 9.23pm yesterday after undergoing surgery due to a brain haemorrhage. He was 61.
Following his death, the Election Commission said that it is waiting for official notification from the Dewan Rakyat speaker and the speaker of the Johor assembly regarding the vacancies for the Pulai parliamentary seat and the Simpang Jeram state seat. – July 24, 2023