Najib, Soi Lek’s remarks two sides of same coin, says BN MP

By Yow Hong Chieh

February 19, 2012

Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s remarks today came a day after MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said support for DAP would bolster PAS. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 — A leading Umno backbencher has dismissed accusations of Barisan Nasional (BN) “doublespeak” after the prime minister told Muslims a vote for PAS was a vote for secular DAP.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s remarks today came a day after MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said support for DAP would bolster PAS, which would impose its Islamist values on non-Muslims.

BN Backbenchers Club vice president Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, however, defended both views as “consistent”, saying that the common denominator was opposition lynchpin PKR’s inability to control its partners’ excessive policies.

“Either way, if Pakatan Rakyat (PR) wins, PAS or DAP will be in control. PKR, or specifically Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, won’t be able to rein in their extreme views,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Abdul Rahman, who is Kota Belud MP, had earlier said on micro-blogging site Twitter that PKR was “spineless when facing PAS and DAP”, unlike BN which spoke with one voice.

He also said the statements made by Najib and Dr Chua were contradictory as both had merely touched on the same issue from different angles.

“MCA is MCA. Umno is Umno. MCA has its own concerns, same thing with Umno. They were articulating views vis-a-vis DAP and PAS,” the Sabahan lawmaker said.

Abdul Rahman also hit back at critics on Twitter who questioned why Umno had tried holding unity talks with PAS if the Islamist party was so extreme, pointing out that such discussions did not mean Umno wished to form a government with PAS.

“We were talking to the Communists in Baling too. Tunku Abdul Rahman talked to Chin Peng,” he said, adding that such talks were also a way to “un-extreme” PAS.

But he stressed that he was not calling DAP and PAS extremist parties as he contended it is not necessary to be an extremist to hold extreme views.

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