'My absence at Bersih rally was part of psych war'

Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali today justified his absence at the July 9 rally as part of a psych war he waged against organiser Bersih 2.0.

"When the leadership makes a decision, there is no need for you to ask so many questions. Some we can tell, some we can't tell. You can't expect me to tell all as this is a psych-war strategy."

Ibrahim was responding to a Perkasa delegate from Kuala Lumpur at the 2nd Perkasa Annual General Meeting who asked about the president’s failure to attend the July 9 rally after having repeatedly vowed to confront the Bersih protesters.

Ibrahim explained that Perkasa began its psych war against Bersih with a battery of police reports against the rally organisers, and this was followed by virulent threats of a counter-rally.

However, he said the police advised him to stay at home as the situation on that day may escalate into violence, citing the London riots as an example.

Ibrahim noted that those who had turned up at the rally were mostly “Malay religious men from Kelantan and Kedah”.

"If we had confronted them, it would have been Malays against Malays... Therefore, the decision (not to go) was the right decision.

"Some people said I was scared, but I have been jailed twice... I just did not want to see Malays and Muslims being pitted against one another," he said during the wrap-up of the general assembly.

Delegate wants Ibrahim picked as minister

Citing last Saturday's Himpun anti-apostasy rally at Shah Alam Stadium as an example, Ibrahim said he was always prepared to protest if needed.

However, he blasted fellow Muslims for the rally's poor attendance, which was no more than 5,000.

Ibrahim also addressed Perlis representative Ismail Hashim’s calls for Perkasa to demand for positions in government institutions, including Ibrahim to be appointed as minister to inject the ‘Perkasa spirit’ into the government.

"It has never crossed my mind, I don't think about positions. I don’t want to bring the Umno culture of seeking contracts and positions into Perkasa.

"Umno has not done anything wrong, but its leader has. The Umno culture is banned in Perkasa," he declared, without elaborating.

Earlier, Perkasa supreme council member Akbar Ali in his address said that Umno must ensure the New Economic Model would benefit Malays or the right-wing organisation would see to it themselves.

"If Umno cannot do it, then the replacement will be Perkasa," he declared.

He added that Perkasa must help "guide" Prime Minister Najib Razak in his decisions to liberalise the economy.

Vote wisely, urges ex-deputy police chief

Meanwhile, another supreme council member, Shamsuri Arshad, said that Perkasa, even though an NGO, can be an electoral force to be reckoned with.

"Our numbers can shake up the political landscape. What we need to do is use our votes to vote for the party that defends the rulers, constitution and Malays. It’s very clear which party that is."

The former deputy police chief added that Malays, who form the majority in the country, must have the final say in forming the government.

"Eventhough Malays form almost 70 percent of the population, we are split into three groups (Umno, PAS, PKR), this must stop. Use your votes wisely in the next general election."

The assembly today focused largely on the position of Malays in education, economy, religion and politics.

One delegate joked that Perkasa means ‘jantan’ (manly) and this was a platform where it could unsheathe its ‘keris’ (Malay dagger), unlike Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein who "unsheathe his keris but had to put in back in", a reference to the heavy criticism he received from the Chinese community.

However, despite the ethnic-centric meeting, most delegates were focused on debating the issues affecting the Malays and did not resort to bashing other ethnic groups.