PETALING JAYA: The DAP's Lim Kit Siang has slammed the "great aggression" with which Umno is wooing PAS into unity government talks in the name of Malay Muslim unity, by pointing out that it contradicts the prime minister's 1 Malaysia slogan.
The party's parliamentary leader claimed the move is contrary to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's 1 Malaysia concept which seeks unity among all Malaysians and suggested that the Barisan Nasional (BN) chief was pursuing the matter due to his desperation to strengthen his grip on power.
He told The Malaysian Insider this in response to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's open invitation to PAS today to have unity talks.
Muhyiddin had said that "we will not impose any conditions and we accept whatever terms set by PAS," as he feared that if the matter was allowed to drag on, it would create disunity among the Muslims.
"This completely flies in the face of 1 Malaysia, overriding the philosophy of Najib purely for an Umno-PAS unity government and shows utter contempt for other BN components. Has Umno even sought their views?" Lim said.
The Ipoh Timur MP added that the "great haste and how aggressively" Umno is rushing into the matter showed that others in the ruling coalition do not matter.
Muhyiddin, who is Umno deputy president, had also urged PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who has been strongly against cooperating with Umno, to forget about the conflicts between PAS and Umno in the ‘70s, when both parties cooperated to form the Kelantan state government which PAS later abandoned.
“As Muslims we are encouraged to forgive. That was in the past,” Muhyiddin said.
But BN component leaders have also expressed misgivings over a move that would create a Malay Muslim power base, telling The Malaysian Insider that guarantees to safeguard the interests of other races would be required before they could support such a move.
The unity government issue that was reignited at the recent PAS general assembly has caused a rift in the Islamist party as well as the PR alliance which Umno leaders have been swift to capitalise on.
Lim also said that Najib needed a boost that did not come as planned via the Feb 5 takeover of the Perak state government, which has turned into a full-blown constitutional crisis.
"It has now become an embarrassment instead," he said.
At a press conference, Lim also repeated his challenge to Najib to seek a motion of confidence in Parliament as predecessors like Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Tun Hussein Onn had done to "buttress his credibility, integrity and legitimacy as prime minister" instead of harping on unity talks.
He argued that BN has been on the defensive in the week since Parliament had reconvened, stating that Najib's administration had failed to "give credible accounts" of issues including the 1 Malaysia concept, the four-month-old constitutional crisis in Perak, the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal and the current economic crisis.
The party's parliamentary leader claimed the move is contrary to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's 1 Malaysia concept which seeks unity among all Malaysians and suggested that the Barisan Nasional (BN) chief was pursuing the matter due to his desperation to strengthen his grip on power.
He told The Malaysian Insider this in response to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's open invitation to PAS today to have unity talks.
Muhyiddin had said that "we will not impose any conditions and we accept whatever terms set by PAS," as he feared that if the matter was allowed to drag on, it would create disunity among the Muslims.
"This completely flies in the face of 1 Malaysia, overriding the philosophy of Najib purely for an Umno-PAS unity government and shows utter contempt for other BN components. Has Umno even sought their views?" Lim said.
The Ipoh Timur MP added that the "great haste and how aggressively" Umno is rushing into the matter showed that others in the ruling coalition do not matter.
Muhyiddin, who is Umno deputy president, had also urged PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who has been strongly against cooperating with Umno, to forget about the conflicts between PAS and Umno in the ‘70s, when both parties cooperated to form the Kelantan state government which PAS later abandoned.
“As Muslims we are encouraged to forgive. That was in the past,” Muhyiddin said.
But BN component leaders have also expressed misgivings over a move that would create a Malay Muslim power base, telling The Malaysian Insider that guarantees to safeguard the interests of other races would be required before they could support such a move.
The unity government issue that was reignited at the recent PAS general assembly has caused a rift in the Islamist party as well as the PR alliance which Umno leaders have been swift to capitalise on.
Lim also said that Najib needed a boost that did not come as planned via the Feb 5 takeover of the Perak state government, which has turned into a full-blown constitutional crisis.
"It has now become an embarrassment instead," he said.
At a press conference, Lim also repeated his challenge to Najib to seek a motion of confidence in Parliament as predecessors like Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Tun Hussein Onn had done to "buttress his credibility, integrity and legitimacy as prime minister" instead of harping on unity talks.
He argued that BN has been on the defensive in the week since Parliament had reconvened, stating that Najib's administration had failed to "give credible accounts" of issues including the 1 Malaysia concept, the four-month-old constitutional crisis in Perak, the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal and the current economic crisis.
19/06/09
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