By Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday, 20th June 1990:
DAP MP for Puchong, V.David, will be asked by the DAP leadership to explain his stand on he GSP issue when he returns from Geneva
The Finance Minister, Datuk Paduka Daim Zainuddin, said after a pre-budget dialogue session yesterday, that he was confident that petitions by four U.S. organizations for the withdrawal of the United States’ Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for Malaysian exports would fail.
It is probably because of this government confidence that the Barisan Nasional leaders had decided to play party politics with the GSP issue, allowing the Deputy Human Resources Minister, Datuk K.Pathmanadan to act so dishonestly and unethically as to falsely accuse the DAP leaders, especially DAP Deputy Secretary-General and MP for Bukit Bintang, Sdr. Lee Lam Thye, of being actively involved in an international conspiracy to have Malaysia’s GSP status removed.
If the Government is worried about the removal of the GSP status, then it would have welcomed the DAP’s clear and unequivocal policy stand in Parliament that DAP opposes the removal of GSP privileges for Malaysia and DAP;s offer of support and full co-operation in efforts to retain the GSP status.
Instead, the Barisan Nasional Government, through Datuk K. Pathmanaban, was more interested in spreading lies and falsehoods about Lam Thye being involved in the efforts to get Malaysia’s GSP status removed.
Inside and outside Parliament, Barisan Nasional leaders including the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir and Deputy Prime Minister, Ghaffar Baba, had picked on V. David as their main target of attack in their effort to politicize the GSP question into a party issue for the next general elections.
I had said in Parliament that the MTUC is a separate organization from DAP, and the DAP had never interfered in the affairs and decisions of MTUC. Furthermore, I was not aware that the MTUC had made any statement demanding or supporting the removal of Malaysia’s GSP privileges.
As the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the other Barisan Nasional leaders are making so many accusations against V. David, the DAP leadership will call up V. David to explain his stand as MP for Puchong on the GSP issue when he returns from Geneva.
It is not proper and the DAP we will not question V. David’s stand and pronouncements as MTUC Secretary-General, for this will be a mater strictly for the MTUC. However, as DAP MP for Puchong, the party leadership will ask V. David for a full explanation on the GSP issue so that the matter will not continue to be distorted and politicized by the Barisan Nasional leadership, which seems to have become bankrupt of real issues against the Opposition.