Saturday May 11, 2013

GE13: DAP: No plan to replace MCA

By FLORENCE A. SAMY
florenceasamy@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP has no intention of replacing MCA in Barisan Nasional, said party adviser Lim Kit Siang.

Lim said he had made his stand very clear on the matter during a press conference on Thursday as well as at a DAP ceramah in Ipoh later that night.

“I have made it very clear that DAP has no intention of replacing MCA in Barisan as our objective since our formation 47 years ago is to fight for the rights and interests of all Malaysians and never just the Chinese,” he said at the party's headquarters here yesterday.

The Gelang Patah MP had come under “attack” in the social media for betraying DAP and Pakatan Rakyat after he was quoted as wanting to form a coalition government with Barisan in a front page headline of a Chinese daily.

Lim, who said he had the “shock of his life” over the attacks, blamed what he called a “misleading” headline in the Chinese daily.

The daily had carried as its main headline that Lim was “open to joining Barisan for a coalition government” although it subsequently explained in its sub-headline that this was on the condition that Barisan accepted Pakatan Rakyat's election manifesto.

“They have to be careful that their main headline does not give rise to false conclusions and misperceptions as they cannot assume that readers will read the contents or even the sub-headline,” said Lim.

On suggestions that Pakatan form a coalition government with Barisan, Lim said it would be up to the Pakatan leadership council to decide on the matter.

“But my personal view is that it is only when Barisan is prepared to endorse Pakatan's common policy framework and election manifesto that there is a basis for consideration of such a proposal,” he said.

Lim also proposed that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim continue as Opposition Leader despite DAP garnering more seats as the PKR leader was Pakatan's choice for Prime Minister.

He also listed six parliamentary reforms for the coming Parliament session, including providing the Opposition Leader with ministerial status and adequate staff, making the presence of Ministers in Parliament the rule rather than the exception and appointing an Opposition MP to head the Public Accounts Committee.

On the coming redelineation of constituencies, Lim called on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to ensure that this was done in a fair and democratic manner, adding that it should be based on the notion of “one man, one vote, one value”.

For more election stories, please visit The Star's GE13 site

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Saturday May 11, 2013

GE13: DAP: No plan to replace MCA

By FLORENCE A. SAMY florenceasamy@thestar.com.my

By FLORENCE A. SAMY
florenceasamy@thestar.com.my