Press Conference Statement (2) by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, in PJ on Saturday, 28th June 1906 at 12 noon:
Challenge to Dr. Mahathir to prove that he is not ‘power crazy’ and will hang on to office by clearly declaring that he will fully accept the verdict of the electorate if they decided to deny Barisan Nasional two-third parliamentary majority
On Thursday night, at the Bagan Serai UMNO division dinner to honour Malayan Union veterans, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, asserted that he was not power-crazy, and that he would not hang on to office, but will withdraw from public office at the right time if he failed to get popular support.
The impression Dr. Mahathir wants to convey is that he is a true democrat, who is prepared to accept the verdict of the people.
If this is the case, I challenge Dr. Mahathir to declare unequivocally that he would fully accept the verdict of the electorate if they decided to deny Barisan Nasional two-third parliamentary majority, and that he will see to it that all parties and quarters concerned will respect the people’s electoral verdict.
If Dr. Mahathir is not prepared to make such an open and public commitment to the very principles of democracy, then his claim at Bagan Serai about not being power-crazy and that he will not hang on to office becomes highly suspect.
Dr. Mahathir should stop his lieutenants, and in particular Deputy Prime Minister, Ghaffar Baba, from abusing their office and power by going round the country threatening the voters if they do not vote in support of Barisan Nasional in the coming elections.
May be from Ghaffar Baba’s point of view, UMNO’s partners like MCA Gerakan and MIC, needed UMNO’s politics of fear, intimidation and blackmail, to get popular votes, but Ghaffar Baba should be reminded of the Sabah example where the greater the threat, 4reater the resistance and repudiation by the people!
If Ghaffar Baba continues to tour the country to threaten the voters to support the Barisan Nasional in the coming elections, Ghaffar Baba will be turning the Deputy Prime Minister’s post into the most unpopular office in Malaysian history. The Deputy Prime Minister should use his office to try to unite the people, and not to divide them further.
I do not know whether this was the reason why Ghaffar Baba was twice by-passed by two Prime Ministers, Tun Razak and Datuk Hussein Onn, from appointment as Deputy Prime Minister. Be that as it may, I would advise Ghaffar Baba not to turn the office of Deputy Prime Minister into the most divisive and destructive post in Malaysian history in 30 years.
General Elections cannot be held on July 5 or 8, but may be held any date in July or after
It is now impossible for the general elections to be held on July 5 or 8 as had been speculated upon, but it may be held any date in July or after. I stand by my earlier forecast that general elections is likely to be held this year rather than next year. This means that the DAP must always be in a state of preparedness to face general elections any time.
I will not be surprised, for instance, if the parliamentary meeting, scheduled for two weeks beginning on July 14, is never held at all, although I had submitted a motion calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the widespread allegations of rampant corruption, nepotism and conflict of interest in high political places; and put in questions to demand specific answers on scandals like the UMBC Scandal, the EPF Scandal and the $1 billion mysterious tin buying scandal in London in 1981 involving the $2 company, MAMINCO.
Lim Kit Siang
Challenge to MCA to put in Barisan Nasional Elections Manifesto no extension of NEP after 1990 in any shape for form
Yesterday, for instance, one MCA leader said that the MCA will not agree to the unilateral extension of the NEP after 1990. Tan Koon Swan has tried to re-write history when he claimed yesterday that the MCA was not a party to the formulation of the New Economic Policy as this was done when the country was run by the National Operations Council (NOC). He forgets that during the NOC rule, the MCA was fully represented by its Cabinet Ministers, and that the NEP was fully ratified by the MCA Cabinet Ministers and MPs in Parliament in 1971.
How can we trust a MCA leader who disclaims and denies responsibility over the NEP? If the MCA leaders never agreed with the NEP, why did they continue to be Ministers and a component party of the Barisan Nasional whose central blank of nation building policy is the NEP? Has the MCA leaders in the last 16 years been deceiving the UMNO, Barisan Nasional or the people as a whole?
Tan Koon Swan and MCA leaders should be more sincere. They should say that after agreeing to the NEP or the 20-year period from 1970 to 1990;L it would not agree to its extension after 1990 in any form or shape.
But is the MCA leadership prepared to make such a definitive stand, and ensure that it is incorporated in the Barisan Nasional general elections manifesto.
I challenge Tan Koon Swan to state clearly ad unequivoxally that the MCA will not compromise on the stand that the NEP should not be extended after 1990, in any shape or form, and that it must be spelt out specifically in the Barisan Elections Manifesto.
Call on Dr. Mahathir to give full details of the ‘Jewish plot’ to topple Malaysian Government
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, said in Kota Bahru yesterday that there is an international Jewish plot, involving some foreign countries and foreign press, seeking to topple the Malaysian Government.
The DAP calls on Dr. Mahathir to give the full details of the Jewish international conspiracy to topple the Malaysian Government. If what Dr. Mahathir says is true, the DAP pledges to give Dr. Mahathir and the Malaysian Government the fullest support to defend the Malaysian Government from such international plot.
However, if Dr. Mahathir cannot give satisfactory evidence to the Malaysian people that there is such a Jewish international plot, then he should stop embarking on such wild accusations designed to distract the attention of the Malaysian people, and in particular the Muslim community, from the ills and scandals in the country.
No Prime Minister should lightly make the serious accusation of an international conspiracy to topple the Malaysian Government. Parliament should be summoned into emergency session if there is such a plot. Is Dr. Mahathir prepared to convene such an emergency Parliamentary meeting?
In his speech, Dr. Mahathir denied that the government had put aside the New Economic Policy. He said further implementation of NEP had slowed down due to the economic recession, implying that the NEP would clearly be extended after 1990. What has Tan Koon Swan got to say about Dr. Mahathir’s Kota Bahru speech? Is Tan Koon Swan part of the Jewish internationz conspiracy to topple the Malaysian government?