BN will lose GE14 on issues, not because of Najib, says Perkasa chief

Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali says his comments criticising the opposition are carried by the mainstream media but criticisms against the government are not,explaining why many think he is an Umno stooge. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, July 2, 2015.

The government's problems will not be resolved by Datuk Seri Najib Razak's resignation, Datuk Ibrahim Ali said, as he weighed in on the spat between the prime minister and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The Perkasa president said that if the Barisan Nasional failed to keep the people happy, then it would lose the general election regardless of Najib being prime minister or not.

"Dr Mahathir says Najib must resign, otherwise Umno will lose. But there must be reasons, like 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the goods and services tax (GST), Felda Global Ventures, Malaysia Airlines, few homes rebuilt after the huge floods in Kelantan, rising cost of living, tolls.

"If Najib is replaced and his successor cannot resolve this by the 14th general election, there is no difference. If Najib can resolve all these, then the people will be happy and there will be no problem.

"The challenge for Najib now is to resolve this problem, that is, how to make people happy. But perhaps to Dr Mahathir, it is already impossible for Najib to solve it," Ibrahim told The Malaysian Insider in an interview.

He said the entire row between Dr Mahathir and Najib was purely political, and urged the public to instead focus on the issues at stake, such as 1MDB, rather than the individuals.

Ibrahim also reiterated Perkasa's call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into 1MDB, adding that the group was the first to moot the idea.

"We criticise the government as much as we criticise the opposition. But they call us a tool of Umno. But when we criticise the government, it doesn't come out in the mainstream media or the television. When we attack opposition, they give us coverage.

"But that is not our fault. We are balanced. We do not antagonise unnecessarily."

Over the past few months, Dr Mahathir has called for Najib to step down and warned that Barisan  Nasional would lose the next general election should he remain in power.

- TMI