Malaysiakini conducted an interview with former Health Minister and former MCA Vice President, Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek, on various issues affecting the MCA and its leadership after the political tsunami on the 8 March General Election. Chua, resigned from all government and political posts in January after a sex scandal. It is widely speculated that Chua may take on Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting for the MCA President post in the coming party polls. However, Chua is not committing whether he will take on Ong for the top post in MCA.
PETALING JAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has withdrawn his support for Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to be Prime Minister.
In the past, the former Prime Minister had, countless times, openly said he wanted Najib to take over from Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Prime Minister.
“I feel we should not pick who the replacement should be. We should give the opportunity to a number of people so that we can evaluate them whether it is Pak Lah, Najib or (Tan Sri) Muhyiddin (Yassin).
“For now, I can’t say who (should replace Abdullah). Although I have said before it should be Najib, I don’t know why for ‘some reason’ I have now changed my mind,” he said at a packed “Umno Post 12th General Election: An Assessment” forum organised by mykmu.net.
Dr Mahathir said the Cabinet and Umno supreme council were not relevant anymore because they were all just “yes” men to Abdullah.
He said those who tried to speak up were chastised for supposedly being disrespectful.
“They are then invited by the Prime Minister and given an explanation why they should agree with him,” he said, adding that their mouths were kept shut because they were afraid of losing their position and power.
He said Abdullah preferred to seek advice on government and party matters from “outsiders” such as family members including his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin rather than his own Cabinet and Umno supreme council members.
Speaking about the losses suffered by Barisan Nasional in the general election, Dr Mahathir said it was clear that the people, including Umno members, wanted Abdullah out.
Going back to history, he said Datuk Onn Jaafar, the founder of Umno, was a man of dignity as he quit the party when his idea of opening it up to non-Malays was rejected.
He noted that the first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, also resigned shortly after the 1969 election when Barisan lost ground.
“He withdrew on his own accord without being chased out by anyone. These two leaders were sensitive and listened to the views of the people and acted accordingly,” he said.
Dr Mahathir said that, as Prime Minister for 22 years, he resigned respectably when he heard that people were questioning why “this old man” was staying for so long in the position.
He questioned why Abdullah was not prepared to do the same.
“Does he want to wait until Umno is destroyed?” he said.
Dr Mahathir also threw support behind Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s proposal for the party to hold an extraordinary general assembly to discuss the polls results, and urged members to speak out and reform the party.
Dr Mahathir’s son Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said he was inclined to support Najib if he were to vie for the Umno president’s post.
SUNGAI PETANI: Parliament sittings should be telecast either live or delayed to enable the rakyat (citizenry) to follow proceedings, Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul said.
“We want the public to know what the MPs speak on and how they conduct themselves,” said the PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat).
He said it was time for Malaysia to allow such telecast as happens in other countries.
He said he would make such proposal when the parliament convenes next month.
Johari said allowing rakyat to follow through the sittings would make MPs more accountable and serve the people better in their respective constituencies.
“The move will surely benefit everyone,” he said in an interview.
Leaders of DAP, PKR and PAS met in Petaling Jaya today and took the logical next step of the March 8 political tsunami – proposing the establishment of a new front of the three political parties to be tentatively known as PAKATAN RAKYAT.
A joint statement issued after the meeting reads:
The leaders of KeADILan, DAP and PAS met today in furtherance of the meeting held on the 18th of March 2008.
Today’s meeting was attended by, among others, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, YB Lim Kit Siang, YB Dato’ Seri Tuan Guru Haji Abdul Hadi Awang and YB Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
In today’s meeting, we have proposed to consolidate the cooperation between the three parties under the name “PAKATAN RAKYAT”. This name has been proposed pending confirmation by the respective parties.
Pakatan Rakyat pledges to uphold the rights and interests of all Malaysians, regardless of religion or race, as enshrined in the Constitution.
With the results of the recent elections, the state governments of Kelantan, Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perak and Selangor will be known as Pakatan Rakyat state governments. The policies of these governments will be conducted in accordance with the policies of Pakatan Rakyat.
To further mutual understanding regarding such policies, a convention of all Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives of Parliament and State Assemblies will be held on the 27th of April 2008.
We have developed and strengthened the structure of Pakatan Rakyat by creating under the Leadership Council, consisting of the leaders of the three parties, a Joint Secretariat consisting of three leaders from each of the three parties. This joint Secretariat will be tasked with building the foundation and framework of the Pakatan Rakyat for ratification by the Leadership Council.
