Tuesday April 22, 2008
Bad move, Kah Choon told
KUALA LUMPUR: Members of Barisan Nasional component parties should not take up appointments in Pakatan Rakyat-led state governments, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.
Commenting on former Gerakan deputy secretary-general Datuk Lee Kah Choon’s decision to accept the appointments as director of InvestPenang and Penang Development Corporation, he said:
“Since this is a party matter, I want to know Gerakan’s stand on this because. As a matter of principle, Barisan doesn’t encourage or allow any of its members to be working for the Opposition,” he said.
Lee, the former Jelutong MP, said he had accepted the posts to serve Penang and its people. He also said he considered politics as history for him.
Gerakan adviser Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik it would be difficult for Lee as both Gerakan and DAP would be suspicious of him.
“Gerakan will be wary of him as he will be promoting the agenda of the Pakatan Rakyat state government while DAP would be guarded as he is still a Gerakan member.
“I don’t know how he is going to work. I really pity him,” he said.
Dr Lim, however, said he was “thankful” to the DAP, which heads the Pakatan Rakyat government in Penang, for choosing Lee for the posts.
“The DAP, by appointing Lee, shows it lacks personalities and leaders from Penang to lead the state as they have too many ‘helicopter’ leaders from other states, including Lim Guan Eng, Jeff Ooi, Liew Chin Tong and Dr P. Ramasamy,” he said.
Asked if the party would take any disciplinary action against Lee, Dr Lim said he would leave it to the party central committee, which would meet on Sunday.
In Penang, Chief Minister Guan Eng said Lee’s appointment did not mean that the DAP did not have enough expertise.
He said the state government was charting a new course with Lee’s appointment and he was ready to face any criticism as the move was part of the reform process.
“Let us take the bitterness and unnecessary anger out of politics,” he said when approached after the swearing-in ceremony of the 24 new Penang Municipal councillors yesterday.
“We want to be fair to everyone. We do not want to differentiate or discriminate.”
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