Monday July 30, 2007
Barisan only allocates seats after consultations, says DPM
PEKAN: Barisan Nasional will not give in to demands by any component party for additional seats in the general election, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.
The Deputy Prime Minister said any changes regarding the allocation of seats would be decided upon after consultations with other component parties.
“When the time comes, we will sit down and discuss. We will then make a decision based on consensus, in line with the principles and spirit of Barisan.
“We do not decide solely on the demand of one component party,” he told reporters after opening the Pekan Umno division delegates’ meeting here yesterday.
Najib was asked to comment on a purported ultimatum issued by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) president Datuk M. Kayveas that
the party would leave Barisan if it was not given additional seats to contest.
Kayveas reportedly said the PPP did not want to be treated like a stepchild and demanded for seats held by them in the 1960s, to be “returned” to the party.
The Minister in Prime Minister’s department and Taiping MP, said the PPP once held four parliamentary seats, 12 state seats, 79 local council seats and the post of Ipoh mayor.
On whether Kayveas had gone overboard in clamouring for seats openly, Najib, who is Pekan MP, said: “I don’t think he (Kayveas) would ever leave Barisan. Anyhow, there is no additional seat avai-lable based on the existing delineation.”
In Taiping, Kayveas said he had not issued any ultimatum to anybody “let alone to the Barisan Nasional” on the allocation of seats.
He said his statement was “misinterpreted and misunderstood.”
“I know when to speak my mind and when to mind my speech and I don’t simply give statements and ultimatums.
“I think we are not in the position to give any ultimatum to anybody but I must say that it is just a struggle for PPP which has been a very strong party and which has been in the opposition.
“We were close to forming a government in Perak before we joined the Barisan in the early 1970s.
“We are a founder member, a very senior member in Barisan Nasional,” he said after handing over financial aid to needy students yesterday.
In Muar, Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Kayveas should retract the ultimatum, adding that it was “disrespectful” and “against the spirit of Barisan”.
MCA vice-president Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said Kayveas' remarks were “uncalled for”.
Gerakan president Dr Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon said Kayveas’ purported threat was not a positive or constructive approach.
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