KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Rakyat troubleshooter Zaid Ibrahim believes that Malay right-wing pressure group Perkasa and its chairman Ibrahim Ali are trapped in a time warp.
According to the former law minister, the “Umno tentacle” appears to be clueless about the bigger picture, preferring instead to indulge in stone-age politics.
“They are worked up about Malay rights being threatened but do not care about what's happening to Petronas' money or about the massive corruption in the system,” he told FMT in a recent exclusive interview.
Zaid lambasted the movement for merely skimming the surface as opposed to diving deep into the issues which the Malay community is confronted with.
“Instead of conducting a serious analysis on the real reasons for the lack of progress among the Malays, they indulge in chest-thumping speeches.
“They blame everyone for the problem except themselves and (former premier Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad),” he said.
However, Zaid is confident that the Malays are much wiser now and will not fall for such political gimmicks.
Creating a sense of alarm
Last week, the PKR leader slammed Perkasa for twisting the facts concerning the special rights of the Malays, and described the movement as irresponsible.
He accused Perkasa of intentionally injecting a sense of alarm into the Malays in order to achieve its political aims.
Zaid also took its chairman to task for repeatedly stressing that Malay privileges as provided for in Article 153 of the Federal Constitution have to be protected.
"Even I am Malay but who wants to take our rights away that he (Ibrahim) has to protect them?" he added.
Perkasa is scheduled to hold its inaugural annual general meeting this Saturday, and was forced to make an eleventh hour change with regards to its guest of honor after the Sultan of Selangor decided to give it a skip.
Ibrahim is also mulling legal action against the Sun newspaper over a report which claimed that the sultan was concerned about Perkasa's image as a "chauvinist" group.
The Perkasa chief was particulary peeved with another report in the English daily which stated that the sultan had told Ibrahim to tone down his ultra-Malay image.
Now, Mahathir is slated to officiate the Perkasa annual meet.
FMT
25/03/10
According to the former law minister, the “Umno tentacle” appears to be clueless about the bigger picture, preferring instead to indulge in stone-age politics.
“They are worked up about Malay rights being threatened but do not care about what's happening to Petronas' money or about the massive corruption in the system,” he told FMT in a recent exclusive interview.
Zaid lambasted the movement for merely skimming the surface as opposed to diving deep into the issues which the Malay community is confronted with.
“Instead of conducting a serious analysis on the real reasons for the lack of progress among the Malays, they indulge in chest-thumping speeches.
“They blame everyone for the problem except themselves and (former premier Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad),” he said.
However, Zaid is confident that the Malays are much wiser now and will not fall for such political gimmicks.
Creating a sense of alarm
Last week, the PKR leader slammed Perkasa for twisting the facts concerning the special rights of the Malays, and described the movement as irresponsible.
He accused Perkasa of intentionally injecting a sense of alarm into the Malays in order to achieve its political aims.
Zaid also took its chairman to task for repeatedly stressing that Malay privileges as provided for in Article 153 of the Federal Constitution have to be protected.
"Even I am Malay but who wants to take our rights away that he (Ibrahim) has to protect them?" he added.
Perkasa is scheduled to hold its inaugural annual general meeting this Saturday, and was forced to make an eleventh hour change with regards to its guest of honor after the Sultan of Selangor decided to give it a skip.
Ibrahim is also mulling legal action against the Sun newspaper over a report which claimed that the sultan was concerned about Perkasa's image as a "chauvinist" group.
The Perkasa chief was particulary peeved with another report in the English daily which stated that the sultan had told Ibrahim to tone down his ultra-Malay image.
Now, Mahathir is slated to officiate the Perkasa annual meet.
FMT
25/03/10
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