Penang DAP man tells PPBM senator not to poison PH with ‘racist’ arguments

Terengganu PPBM chief Razali Idris (left) and Bukit Tambun DAP chief Teoh Seang Hooi.

GEORGE TOWN: A DAP grassroots leader said he was saddened to hear a PPBM senator resorting to racial arguments in commenting on DAP’s reluctance to admit ex-Umno MPs into Pakatan Harapan.

Terengganu PPBM chief Senator Razali Idris had asked if DAP was “worried over an increased Malay-Muslim voice” in Parliament in objecting to these former Umno leaders crossing over to PPBM.

Penang’s Bukit Tambun DAP chief Teoh Seang Hooi said such remarks were unbecoming of a Pakatan Harapan (PH) representative as the coalition relied heavily on camaraderie among component parties to win the May 9 general election.

“Stop poisoning PH with racism. PPBM should emulate the stand of DAP and PKR in not admitting Umno MPs, in line with voters rejecting Umno and BN.

“The Terengganu PPBM chief should respect the electoral choice of Malaysian voters rather than voicing racist sentiments,” he said when contacted.

Razali was reported in Malaysiakini as saying that members of opposition parties should be allowed to cross over to PPBM as it was an opportunity for the party to increase its numbers.

Asked to respond to Teoh’s comments, Razali said Teoh was entitled to his opinion.

He asked why the racist label was being used against those who defended their own race and religion.

Razali said the irony was that when minority races took care of their own, the racist label was not applied to them.

“The statement that I made was to hit out at the comments by Ronnie Liu and several other DAP leaders.

“What is certain is PPBM is a Malay and Muslim party. This means PPBM has a membership comprising Malays, Muslims and Bumiputeras. It has nothing to do with racism.”

Razali said it was not right for Liu to go around calling PPBM and Dr Mahathir Mohamad “pengutip sampah” (rubbish collector) for being willing to accept former Umno leaders.

In his earlier statement, Razali had said MCA and Gerakan members had joined DAP without much of a fuss but DAP had made a great deal about Umno members joining PPBM.

He also said when former Umno law minister Zaid Ibrahim joined DAP, nobody made a fuss.

Razali said it was important to note that it was better for ex-Umno members to cross over to PPBM rather than to PAS.

Liu, who is Selangor DAP committee member, had reminded Pakatan Harapan members to not accept former Umno members, noting that Mahathir had called them “useless and rubbish” before.

He reminded Mahathir of what he had said before and hoped that he “won’t be a rubbish collector”.

PPBM currently has 16 MPs in Parliament and 30 assemblypersons.

Another PH component party, Amanah, was reported to be also ready to accept former Umno representatives and leaders, but after strict vetting.

Umno won 54 seats in the May 9 general election. Several Umno MPs have already quit the party in the wake of the polls defeat, including former trade minister Mustapa Mohamed, former Puteri Umno chief Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, who applied to join PPBM this week, and Bagan Serai MP Noor Azmi Ghazali.

Yesterday, six Umno MPs quit the party. They were Hamzah Zainuddin (Larut), Rosol Wahid (Hulu Terengganu), Abdul Latiff Ahmad (Mersing), Shabudin Yahaya (Tasek Gelugor), Mohamad Fasiah Mohd Fakeh (Sabak Bernam) and Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz (Tanah Merah). - FMT