Friday August 07 2009
Kit Siang warns open squabbling could turn Pakatan into one-term wonder
Lim wants all Pakatan Rakyat partners to show more cohesion and common sense of purpose. By Leslie Lau. Consultant Editor.
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 — The DAP’s Lim Kit Siang today urged all Pakatan Rakyat (PR) partners to show more cohesion and common sense of purpose to strengthen public confidence, and avoid the kind of public quarrels which could result in the alliance becoming a “one-term wonder”.
His remarks show the measure of concern being felt by national PR leaders over the succession of squabbles between DAP and PAS which has damaged the credibility of PR state governments.
Selangor PAS chief Datuk Hassan Ali had openly called for his state executive councillor colleague Ronnie Liu from the DAP to be stripped of his portfolio following a dispute over a minor issue of unlawful beer seizures.
Last month, DAP had also threatened to pull out from the PAS-led Kedah PR state government over the issue of the relocation of an abattoir.
“All Pakatan Rakyat leaders of PKR, DAP and PAS must exercise responsibility and discipline to strengthen public confidence in the credibility, cohesion, integrity and common sense of purpose of Pakatan Rakyat if PR is not to end up as a one-term wonder.
“If a state exco member of a Pakatan Rakyat state government can publicly demand the removal of another state exco member from another Pakatan Rakyat component party from his portfolio, and be supported by the state Youth wing of that party to the extent of wanting to hold a public demonstration, then the same thing can be done by the other Pakatan Rakyat component parties,” said Lim.
Lim said the result of such open squabbling would be utter chaos and the PR alliance would be discredited.
PR leaders and component parties, instead of Barisan Nasional (BN), would then become PR’s own biggest enemies.
“It is imperative therefore that any unhappiness and dissatisfaction by any Pakatan Rakyat component party or leader must be raised and dealt with internally in the grouping.”
Umno and BN have in recent months been gradually chipping away at the level of public support which PR parties have been enjoying, largely due to open squabbling and a absence of a joint platform for voters to compare with what the ruling coalition has to offer.
Umno has also successfully used race and religious issues to drive a wedge between the more conservative factions in PAS and the more secular DAP.
The PR national leadership is now working feverishly towards fulfilling legal guidelines and registering the alliance officially to underline its commitment towards being a viable alternative to BN.
Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, the former Umno minister who joined PKR recently, has been given the task of coordinating activities of the joint PR secretariat.
It is understood that a series of discussions will soon be held for PR parties to come up with a common platform.
No comments:
Post a Comment