KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Harapan's and Perikatan Nasional's silence on the Tan Sri Tommy Thomas issue is probably due to guilt.
Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said this was the only reasonable explanation for their silence following revelations of possible misconduct by the former attorney-general who was appointed during the PH federal administration.
"I am not sure why they (PH and PN) are so quiet. Those who feel guilty tend to be silent. That's normally the case," he said when asked why PH and PN were silent after the recent declassification of the report by the special task force that looked into Thomas' memoir, "My Story: Justice in the Wilderness".
Ismail Sabri was speaking after being briefed by the police on preparations for the 15th General Election and floods here today.
Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki today questioned the silence of PH and PN on the issue, saying that days after the report had been released, no PH or PN leader had stated their stand on the matter.
The special task force's report was declassified on Oct 21. The task force had recommended that the auditor-general and other parties probe into possible misconduct by Thomas when he was in office.
The 241-page report has been made public on the website of the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister's Department.
When it was released last year, Thomas' book was criticised by various quarters, including the Attorney-General's Chambers, lawyers, politicians and the public, for allegedly containing elements of incitement, insults and defamation.