Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary- General and MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, at the DAP Penang Ceramah held at Penang Chinese Town Hall on Friday, May 30, 1986:
Gerakan threat to contest under its own symbol, if not allocated more seats shows its naked opportunism’ and sheer lack of political principles.
Gerakan President, Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, threatened a few days ago that Gerakan would contest the coming general elections under its own symbol if it is not given ‘ a fair deal’ in allocation of seats.
Dr. Lim said the overall perfomenace of the Barisan Nasional would be affected because the coalition government was now ‘stuck with lame ducks’, as ‘some component parties are hit by various scandals’.
If Gerakan feels strongly about the ‘various scandals’ which had hit some component parties, creating gap as to the Barisan Nasional’s 1982 general elections pledge of a ‘clean, efficient and trustworth’ government, then Gerakan should threaten to leave Barisan Nasional unless the various scandals are publicly investigated and the culprits brought to justice.
But Dr. Lim is not making a strong stand on the various scandals in the Barisan Nasional. What he is suggesting that the Gerakan is prepared to overlook, tolerate and even accept these various scandals’ provided the Gerakan is allocated a few more Parliamentary and State Assembly seats in the coming general elections.
What Dr. Lim was doing is nothing less than an offer by Gerakan that it could be bribed into silence and acquiescence on the ‘various scandals’ in the Barisan Nasional with the offer of a few more seats for the coming general elections.
Is this the action and stand of a political party with principles, character and self-honour?
In this connection, what are these ‘various scandals’ in the component parties of Barisan Nasional which Dr. Lim is referring to. I am sure he is referring to the Pan EL and Multi- Purpose Holdings Scandals of the MCA President, Tan Koon Swan.
But is Lim Keng Yaik also referring to the $2.5 million BMF scandal, the EMBC scandal and the EPF Investment scandal involving the UMNO or UMNO leaders?
What have the Gerakan Ministers and leaders done to demand the fullest accounting to the Malaysian public of these multiple scandals?
Dr. Lim’s statement makes it clear that the Gerakan is not interested or concerned about the political future of the people, but only in getting more seats to be allocated to it, for which the Gerakan could accept any policy or the Barisan Nasional.
Gerakan does not feel strongly against the One Language, One Culture Policy of the Barisan Nasional proclaimed in October 1982, the Islamisation Policy, the further dilution of political power of the non-Malays in the redelineation of electronal constituencies, the influx of illegal Indonesian the erosion of the freedom of religion and even parental rights as evidenced by the increasing number of cases where parents have lost the right to determine the education and religion of their children, and a whole host of fundamental issues and questions.