Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, at the Grisek DAP Branch Dinner to celebrate the Party’s 15th Anniversary at Grisek, Johore and Monday, 17th August 1981 at 8p.m.
Call on MCA, Gerakan and SUPP to declare their stand as to whether they are prepared to attend a round-table conference of all political parties and Chinese organisations and associations to reach a minimum common action programme to defend,protect and promote legitimate Constitutional political, economic, educational, social and cultural rights and interests of Malaysian Chinese
The DAP has more than once declared our preparedness to attend a round-table conference of all political parties and Chinese associations and organizations, including Tung Chung and Chiau Chung, to discuss whether it is possible to reach a minimum common action programme to defend, protect and promote the legitimate Constitutional, political, economic, educational, social and cultural rights and interests of Malaysian Chinese.
This is in response to the various calls by Chinese clans, associations and organizations, and in particular Tung Chung and Chiau Chung, that attempts should be made by political parties like the MCA, Gerakan and DAP to work together.
I am surprised that in all these calls, the SUPP has been completely ignore. I was in Sarawak last week, together with Sdr. P. Patto, National Organising Secretary, Sdr. Chian Heng Kai, National Publicity Secretary and Sdr. Lau Dak Kee, Director of DAP Membership Bureau, and I said in Sarawak that the SUPP should not be left out.
However, up to now, all the other parties have been keeping very quiet, as if afraid that they might be antagonizing their Big Brother, UMNO.
I call on MCA, Gerakan and SUPP to publicly declare whether they are prepared to attend a round-table conference of all political parties and Chinese clans, associations and organizations to duscuss whether it is possible to reach a minimum common action programme to defend, protect and promote the legitimate Constitutional, political, economic, educational, social and cultural rights and interests or Malaysian Chinese.
Such an minimum common action programme should be the basis of action in Cabinet, Parliament, State Executive Councils and the State Assemblies, by all parties, groups and presons who are prepared to subscribe to it.
Probably, considerable preliminary work be needed before such a round-table conference of all the leaders of the political parties, Chinese clans, associations and organizations, including Tung Chung and Chiau Chung, could be held, out before such preliminary work could begin, the political parties involved must be prepared to declare publicly whether they agree in principle to such a round-table conference.
If even such an agreement in principle is also not forthcoming in public by all the political parties concerned, then clearly such an idea would not get anywhere.
Once all the political parties concerned agree in public in principle to such a round-table conference, then we can get to the next step of discussing how such a round-table conference could be convened, the contents and elements that should go into formulating and finalizing a minimum common action programme which could be the basis for common front by all subscribers to the round-table conference in Cabinet, Parliament, State Executive Councils and the State Assemblies.
If the MCA, Gerakan and SUPP are not even prepared to publicly declare their support in principle of such a round-table conference to work out a minimum common action programme in Cabinet, Parliament, State Executive Councils and State Assemblies, then there is no point in building false hopes among the people in general, and the Malaysian Chinese in particular.