Adly rubbishes claim on DAP leaders declining honorary titles

Melaka Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Adly Zahari today described as slander a claim by Umno supreme council member Ahmad Maslan that top DAP leaders are not conferred honorary titles such as “Datuk” because of the party’s stance on the institution of the Malay rulers.

Adly, an Amanah vice-president, said the allegation was an attempt to discredit PH amid the campaign for the Melaka election.

“Therefore, I conclude that the statement is slander,” he said at PH’s daily press conference at the coalition’s main operations room here.

He also pointed out that several DAP leaders had received honorary titles during PH’s tenure in government, including in Melaka.

“A top DAP leader, Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang, also received a title. Even among Umno leaders, there were those who did not hold titles, such as Tun Ghafar Baba, who was conferred a title posthumously,” he said.

Ahmad, the deputy works minister, reportedly made the claim during a campaign event in Kampung Lendu Dalam last night, alleging 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 reasons for 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.