As far as the PR leaders are concerned, they are clamouring against the injustice of what they claimed to be selective persecution by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Speaking to a crowd of almost 2,500 at the Petaling Jaya stadium in Kelana Jaya yesterday afternoon, they alleged that MACC’s probe into several Selangor state assemblymen was just one of many moves aimed at destabilising PR-led states, after the loss of Perak.

“Teoh’s death is significant not because he was Chinese or Malay Muslim or Indian,” said DAP vice-chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim, in a rare public rally appearance.

In his thick English accent, the 75-year-old said Teoh’s case transcended any racial elements as he was a “son of Malaysia” and that the circumstances leading to his death should be thoroughly investigated.

The Penang senator said although the MACC was fashioned after Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption, key elements making it effective were left out.

PAS leader Datuk Husam Musa, PKR’s Dr Xavier Jayakumar and his party colleague William Leong took turns to question why MACC was investigating them for allegedly misappropriating public funds while Barisan Nasional politicians remained untouched.

“It makes no sense to probe so hard into an alleged RM2,500 corruption case pertaining to the purchase of flags when they don’t even question certain BN leaders who have big mansions,” said Selangor assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

Nik Nazmi and Selangor Speaker Teng Chang Kim pointed to the case of former Selangor menteri besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo who is alleged to own a bungalow worth RM24 million.

Other leaders who alleged “double standards” by MACC were DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, DAP chairman Karpal Singh and Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

Mohd Khir has denied the allegations and said his bungalow was only worth some RM3.5 million and that he had purchased the land through a bank loan.

MACC chief Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan told China Press that the commission had not received any complaints but would seek more details from the Selangor state government.

Though the PR leaders had a field day sinking their teeth into MACC and the police, they did not suggest that Teoh’s death was a racial matter.
Instead, each speaker questioned the rationale behind “interrogating” Teoh, who was supposedly assisting MACC, and stressed the need for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to look into his death and the procedures used by MACC.

On Sunday, Malay language newspapers owned by Umno had criticised PR leaders for politicising Teoh’s death.

In a Berita Harian column, newly appointed New Straits Times group managing editor Zainul Ariffin Isa suggested that there was an agenda to discredit government institutions like the judiciary, police and MACC.
The institutions, he added, were staffed predominantly by Malays.

He alleged that some Selangor PR politicians had attributed the recent probe into them as being racially motivated.

He also asked why the Selangor MB, who is also a Malay, doubted the ability of his own people to act fairly.

Perhaps symptomatic of the government’s fear that the issue might boil over, was the absence of a Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) at the public rally yesterday.

FRU, a staple at public rallies, was conspicuously absent and other than the presence of a few plainclothed policemen, the event was rather tame.

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that the political secretary to the prime minister, Dr Oh Ei Sun, said he would convey to Datuk Seri Najib Razak a personal request from Teoh's family for a Royal Commission to investigate the death of the political aide.