Don’t belittle us, Perkasa warns Umno

Saying they have nothing to lose, Perkasa warned politicians against disparaging the group. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 — Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali has warned Umno not to look down on the Malay rights organisation, stressing that his group was not the reason behind Barisan Nasional’s (BN) flagging support.

Syed Hassan added that the Malay rights movement had never asked Umno or the BN to give way for Perkasa chief and Independent MP, Datuk Ibrahim Ali, to keep his Pasir Mas seat at the next polls.

“Please be careful when opening your mouth. Lots of flies come out of their mouths when they speak. Don’t belittle Perkasa. We’re not losing anything,” Syed Hassan said in a statement issued early this morning.

Last March, the vocal champion for Malay rights warned politicians against earning its enmity if they wanted voter support in the coming general election due by 2013.

Syed Hassan’s response comes on the heels of Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s assertion that the Malay party will challenge Ibrahim for control of the Kelantan seat.

Tengku Adnan had stressed his party will not back the strident Ibrahim if the latter chooses to run as an Independent there.

“I want to ask Ku Nan, when did Perkasa ask for Pasir Mas to be given to Datuk Ibrahim Ali and BN to back off from contesting?” Syed Hassan lobbed at the Umno veteran, calling him by his nickname.

In an exclusive interview with The Malaysian Insider, Tengku Adnan yesterday said: “Why should Umno support him? Umno should field its own candidate in Pasir Mas. We will contest in Pasir Mas.”

Tengku Adnan said Umno was troubled by some of Perkasa’s actions.

The 59-year-old echoed the views voiced previously by other Umno leaders, including party Youth chief and regular critic of Ibrahim, Khairy Jamaluddin.

“As (Umno) secretary-general, I can tell you, we have nothing to do with Perkasa, and we’re not happy with some of the things done by Perkasa because they have eroded our support,” the former Tourism Minister said, when quizzed over the high number of Perkasa members who are also Umno members.

“When they talk about my friends among the Chinese or Indians, they cause us to lose more votes,” Tengku Adnan revealed.

Perkasa was founded by Ibrahim Ali two years ago, just after Election 2008.

The fiery MP had been sacked from Umno in 2004 and had won the Pasir Mas seat in the last general election on a PAS ticket.

Today, Syed Hassan also denied there was an understanding between the two Malay “champions” to work together, contrary to popular perception.

Syed Hassan bristled at the Umno man’s high-handed attitude, pointing out that such remarks only added to the Malay community retracting their support from the party.

“I want to remind Ku Nan that some of Umno’s and BN’s actions are causing voters to distance themselves from the party.

“They are the ones causing the loss of support. Perkasa is only reprimanding them (Umno and BN) so they realise some of their actions are not quite right.

“But if they want to treat it as causing them to lose support, that’s up to them,” said Syed Hassan.

“This proves there are still Umno leaders who are arrogant and it was one of the reasons why Umno lost support.

“Many have said the reason the rakyat rejected BN in the 12th general election was because of Pak Lah’s affairs, but actually it was also the leaders surrounding Pak Lah that contributed to the loss of support,” Syed Hassan added.

Confidence in the BN peaked in the 2004 general election when Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi — or Pak Lah, as he is called affectionately — replaced Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the prime minister.

But the two-term PM led the BN to its worst performance in history in the last polls, resulting in the ruling coalition losing its two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat.-Malaysian Insider