SERI KEMBANGAN, Sept 12 — Mukhriz Mahathir today backed his father’s views on Perkasa, and appeared to break ranks with Umno’s top leadership by saying party members should decide for themselves on engaging with the Malay rights group.
“It’s up to each member. As an Umno member, my personal view is that I accept what Perkasa is doing. I think many Umno members, as well as PAS and maybe PKR members, will agree with that view,” the international trade and industry deputy minister said at his father, Mahathir Mohamad’s Hari Raya open house here.
Mukhriz said Umno should not isolate or distance itself from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that similarly fought to uphold Malay interests, and claimed that his party and Perkasa shared the same principles, even though their approaches differed.
“We should share responsibility with other groups... that share the same aspirations,” he said.
However, he was quick to deny that Umno had any links to Perkasa, and said it was incorrect to assume that Umno was “in cahoots” with the controversial group despite sharing common areas of interest.
Mukhriz’s attitude towards Perkasa contrasted strongly with that of Umno’s top leaders, who last week cautiously agreed that supporting Perkasa’s views could prove detrimental to Barisan Nasional’s struggle.
Leading the fray was Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, who told The Malaysian Insider that it was “about time” that Umno made a strong stand against Datuk Ibrahim Ali and his fledgling Perkasa.
Nazri, who has been the most vocal of all Umno leaders on the topic of Perkasa, even went a step further to assert that all of Perkasa’s members from Umno and its patron, Dr Mahathir, were political “has-beens”.
Also joining in was Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, who told his BN component party counterparts that Umno will not back Perkasa or Ibrahim in the next general election as such a move will only erode non-Malay support for the ruling coalition.
Like Ibrahim, however, Mukhriz remained unconvinced that Tengku Adnan’s statement was the official party line.
“I’m not sure whether that statement of disassociation is an official statement from the party,” he said.
Ibrahim yesterday challenged Tengku Adnan to clarify if his statement was the view of Umno or his personal take, in what seemed to be a calculated move to force Umno to back down or risk alienating Malay support.
The Pasir Mas MP pointed out that issues decided upon by the Umno supreme council were usually announced by party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak and not the secretary-general.
Mukhriz also defended Perkasa’s approach as being constitutional and dismissed comparison between the pressure group and the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), as made by Nazri.
“I see a distinct difference between Hindraf and Perkasa, in that Perkasa has been championing the constitution all this while whereas what I think Hindraf is trying to do is totally unconstitutional,” he said.
“As long as Perkasa sticks to what they say they want to do, which is to maintain or defend the constitution, I think the law provides that they enjoy protection like everyone else.”
Malaysian Insider
12/09/10
mi1: well what do you expect from a racists son? Things are getting very interesting in Malaysia, let's see what Najib has to say, whether he is going to chicken out to Mahathir or ged rid of racists father and son from UMNO. We will wait and see.....
“It’s up to each member. As an Umno member, my personal view is that I accept what Perkasa is doing. I think many Umno members, as well as PAS and maybe PKR members, will agree with that view,” the international trade and industry deputy minister said at his father, Mahathir Mohamad’s Hari Raya open house here.
Mukhriz said Umno should not isolate or distance itself from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that similarly fought to uphold Malay interests, and claimed that his party and Perkasa shared the same principles, even though their approaches differed.
“We should share responsibility with other groups... that share the same aspirations,” he said.
However, he was quick to deny that Umno had any links to Perkasa, and said it was incorrect to assume that Umno was “in cahoots” with the controversial group despite sharing common areas of interest.
Mukhriz’s attitude towards Perkasa contrasted strongly with that of Umno’s top leaders, who last week cautiously agreed that supporting Perkasa’s views could prove detrimental to Barisan Nasional’s struggle.
Leading the fray was Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, who told The Malaysian Insider that it was “about time” that Umno made a strong stand against Datuk Ibrahim Ali and his fledgling Perkasa.
Nazri, who has been the most vocal of all Umno leaders on the topic of Perkasa, even went a step further to assert that all of Perkasa’s members from Umno and its patron, Dr Mahathir, were political “has-beens”.
Also joining in was Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, who told his BN component party counterparts that Umno will not back Perkasa or Ibrahim in the next general election as such a move will only erode non-Malay support for the ruling coalition.
Like Ibrahim, however, Mukhriz remained unconvinced that Tengku Adnan’s statement was the official party line.
“I’m not sure whether that statement of disassociation is an official statement from the party,” he said.
Ibrahim yesterday challenged Tengku Adnan to clarify if his statement was the view of Umno or his personal take, in what seemed to be a calculated move to force Umno to back down or risk alienating Malay support.
The Pasir Mas MP pointed out that issues decided upon by the Umno supreme council were usually announced by party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak and not the secretary-general.
Mukhriz also defended Perkasa’s approach as being constitutional and dismissed comparison between the pressure group and the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), as made by Nazri.
“I see a distinct difference between Hindraf and Perkasa, in that Perkasa has been championing the constitution all this while whereas what I think Hindraf is trying to do is totally unconstitutional,” he said.
“As long as Perkasa sticks to what they say they want to do, which is to maintain or defend the constitution, I think the law provides that they enjoy protection like everyone else.”
Malaysian Insider
12/09/10
mi1: well what do you expect from a racists son? Things are getting very interesting in Malaysia, let's see what Najib has to say, whether he is going to chicken out to Mahathir or ged rid of racists father and son from UMNO. We will wait and see.....
Mi1,
ReplyDeleteSenarai yang anda paparkan itu, saya pasti ada kebenarannya. Sebab saya ada pengalaman dan lalui.
Harus kita maklumkan kepada semua generasi muda, dimana kah cara Pemerintah yang sejak mula hingga kini lebih setengah abad, Pemerintah harus bersikap adil dan telus dalam melayan semua warga MALAYSIA, bukan sahaja Bumiputera.
Kita minta semua para politik dan pemimpin NGO MALAYSIA buat soal selidik serata Negeri, kota dan desa untuk mengesahkan kebenaran tersebut.
Macam Perkasa, Ibrahim Ali Katak serta TDM, dia sepatutnya beri kenyataan lebih terbuka. Akan tetapi mereka masih nak menegak benang basah. TDM dah memerintah hampir suku abad, masih belum dapat memulihkan kedudukan Bumiputera. Kalau apa yang disenaraikan oleh anda itu, saya percaya sudah hit the target already. Zaman kini dunia tanpa sempadan, setiap warga Malaysia harus bersaing sesama warga Malaysia yang lain dan juga warga dunia.
Pemerintah harus melaksanakan dasar memastikan setiap warga Malaysia supaya RAJIN, TEKUN, BERCITA CITA TINGGI dan BERKESANGGUPAN MENGHADAPI CABARAN. JANGAN SELALU MENGHARAPKAN YANG BULAT DATANG BERGOLEK, YANG PIPIH DATANG MELAYANG.
Saya bukan mahu ungkitkan isu yang sukar utuk diterima oleh segelintir rakan warga Bumiputera, tetapi ini adalah kenyataan dan memberi kesedaran kepada semua warga Malaysia supaya bergorak langkah, jangan hanya mengharapkan sesuatu secara shotcut. Pahala tiada, malah ber....
Bro Mi1,
ReplyDeleteSORRY SUDAH SALAH MASUK BOX KOMEN SAYA. ANYWAY, TDM BETUL2 RASIS, DAH PENCEN DUDUK DIAM SUDAH LAH, KENAPA MAHU BUAT NEGARA HURU HARA BARU DIA SERONOK KAH?
TDM, DIA APA PEDULI, SUDAH KAYA RAYA, HIDUP MEWAH, I JUST BELIEVE, DIA SENGAJA BUAT KECOH UNTUK TUTUP DIA PUNYA KERENAH DAN SALAH LAKU MASA DIA BERMAHARAJALELA DAN TDM ADA 1TUJUAN BACKING PERKASA UNTUK MASA DEPAN ANAK MUKHRIZ, MANA LAH TAHU, GE 13, BOLEH JADI PM KE 7!!!!!KALAU TIDAK BUAT APA BERSUSAH PAYAH, KONDEM SANA SINI, SEMUA PEMIMPIN TAK KIRA LAH PEMERINTAH ATAU PEMBANGKANG SEMUA TAK BETU;, DIA SAHAJA YANG BETUL2.