People Progressive Party mother of herd mentality

People Progressive Party (PPP) jumped on the Bersih bashing bandwagon today accusing the youths involved for “herd mentality” and not being able to think for themselves. 

During PPP Federal Territories convention today, partypresident M Kayveas claimed that many youths who took part in the mammoth rally for clean and fair elections on April 28 did not understand the rally’s cause.

"If you ask them why they went, they will say they don't know, they just followed their friends.

"This is the kind of society we have now. We don't think," he said.

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Andrew Ong and Kuek Ser Kuang Keng
Oct 20, 07 Malaysiakini

People’s Progressive Party (PPP) members are left reeling after 

receiving a political blow from Umno’s third most powerful leader 

during the Malacca PPP annual general assembly early this week.

At the assembly on Monday, Umno vice-president Mohd Ali Rustam 

delivered a scathing speech which chided the PPP for “threatening” 

Barisan Nasional for more seats to contest in the coming general election 

He also repeatedly stressed that PPP could leave the BN fold if it was

unhappy. 

This left many party members in a daze at how 

Mohd Ali - who was the guest of honour as Malacca chief minister - 

could utter such remarks.

“He came to our house, seemingly with the intention to humiliate us,” 

said a PPP source who attended the event.

Eyewitnesses said a handful of party members stormed out of the 

venue in protest, but that did not deter Mohd Ali.

“PPP can leave BN,” said Mohd Ali.

He then pointed at the stunned delegates and added: “All of you can 

leave. Either today or tomorrow. Why wait until the general election? 

What’s there to wait for?” 

Show of hands

Mohd Ali also claimed that the Umno supreme council was unhappy 

with PPP for accepting former Umno members as their members. 

He even asked if any of the delegates formerly with Umno, MCA, 

Gerakan and MIC to put up their hands. 

Mohd Ali also took a dig at Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob 

for suggesting that PPP should ask every state for a seat to contest in.

“That's his business. As far as I am concerned - no seat in Malacca (for 

PPP),” he added. 

When Mohd Ali wrapped up his tirade and declared the assembly open, 

PPP delegates refused to applaud. 

Eyewitnesses reported that PPP president M Kayveas maintained 

his composure throughout the hour-long speech and was seen vigorously 

taking down notes. 

Funeral-like atmosphere 
When contacted, Kayveas said delegates were “disappointed and 

dejected” by the “unwarranted and undiplomatic” remarks uttered by Mohd Ali. 

Kayveas said delegates were expecting inspiring speeches from Mohd Ali 

in order to prepare the party for the upcoming general election. 

“(Instead) the chief minister's speech made the entire assembly feel 

like a funeral. As the third highest ranking in Umno, the consequences of 

his speech worries me,” he said.

He added that some remarks which Mohd Ali made regarding other 

BN component parties and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi were 

also uncalled for.

According to media sources, Mohd Ali had 

asked journalists to exclude the hard-hitting part 

of his speech in their reports. He claimed these 

were only meant for the delegates.

It is uncertain if Mohd Ali’s speech would lead to souring ties between 

PPP and Umno.

However, there is already talks within PPP rank-and-file that the party 

may silently boycott Umno programmes and functions.

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Andrew Ong

Oct 20, 07 Malaysiakini 

People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Youth chief T Murugiah today ticked 

off Barisan Nasional coalition partners for not fulfilling its three-decade-

old promise of a fair allocation of seats to the party.

In his policy speech at the national PPP Youth annual general 

assembly, Murugiah said PPP made a “huge sacrifice” in becoming a 

founding partner of BN - which was preceded by the Alliance coalition - 

in 1972, and remained a loyal member of BN until today. 

“Unfortunately, BN is not loyal to PPP. Promises were unfulfilled. It was 

empty promises. Eyes and ears are closed to the voices of our half 

million members,” he said.

According to Murugiah, PPP agreed to join the BN coalition on the premise 

that it would be able to retain its four parliamentary and 12 state seats 

it held in 1972.

The agreement also allowed PPP to have additional seats, amounting 

to five percent of seats contested by BN, whenever the there is 

a redelineation exercise, said Murugiah.

During his speech, Murugiah shouted “Barisan Nasional, return our 

seats!” four times, which was followed by loud cheers from the delegates. 

Critics don’t know history

Murugiah later praised PPP president M Kayveas for reminding the public 

about the conditions of PPP’s entry into BN. 

“Whenever Kayveas speaks up on additional seats for PPP, there are a 

lot of allegations and criticism from many quarters. 

“Conclusively, these criticism comes from people who don’t know 

history - especially how PPP sacrificed itself to strengthen the Alliance 

which was facing a considerable challenge from the opposition,” he added. 

At a press conference later, Kayveas said he supported Murugiah’s 

statements. “We have been left out and forgotten. It is totally unfair 

and unjust,” he said. 

After missing out on the action during the 1990, 1995 and 1999 

general elections due to internal party squabbles, PPP was granted 

one parliamentary and one state seats to contest during the 2004 polls. 

Since then, the party had been frantically trying to convince its BN 

partners to allow it to contest more seats. 

Where’s Umno Youth? 
Their efforts have been met by brickbats from Gerakan, MIC and more 

recently by Malacca Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam. 

In a related development, Umno Youth top brass were noticeably absent 

at the PPP Youth convention. 

Traditionally, Umno Youth would assign its top brass to officiate 

annual meetings of its BN counterparts. 

Quizzed on this, Murugiah said that Umno Youth chief Hishamuddin 

Hussien was overseas and could not attend the meeting. 

He added that three Umno Youth representatives were present but they 

were not acknowledged during speeches.