Dialogue turns into PPBM-Umno clash over ‘who is sincere’

 

Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and Wan Saiful Wan Jan turned the National Consensus Dialogue into a contentious argument.

PETALING JAYA: A three-party dialogue turned into a heated clash of opinions as Umno and PPBM leaders argued over a myriad of issues.

Both parties expressed disappointment in each other with Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki asking PPBM to be sincere and “stop stealing our members” while PPBM information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan told Umno to talk to them instead of going to the media.

Wan Saiful went as far as suggesting that Umno members had been thinking of overthrowing “our own government” from the beginning.

Asyraf said there was a difference between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) as there has been some level of betrayal.

In earlier stages of the cooperation between PPBM and BN, Asyraf said “there were efforts to woo BN component parties like MIC and MCA”, causing uneasiness within BN.

He said he still remembers Wan Saiful’s statements that the “stealing of members” should stop to save the cooperation between the two parties.

“I do not want to accuse but this is the grassroots’ sentiment. They want us to focus on the needs of the rakyat but politicking at grassroots level is extremely active.”

“At divisional level, there is competition to take away members,” Asyraf claimed during the live talk on Astro Awani. PKR’s information chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin was also present at the National Consensus Dialogue.

Asyraf said he was made to understand that there was an agreement among parties not to woo each others’ members during the days of Pakatan Rakyat and later in the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

“PAS members told me there was a consensus not to take members from other parties.”

However, with PN, he said this issue was not discussed and that was why he had brought it to the Umno Supreme Council, asking them to raise the issue at the PN presidential council.

“This is a government that was created based on a loose cooperation between BN, PN, Sarawak’s GPS and in Sabah,” he added.

Asyraf also raised the importance of strengthening the rule of law and to look into issues like the death of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim and a royal commission of inquiry into Tabung Haji, among others.

“They say this is a Malay-Muslim government but they are silent on many issues.”

“Don’t tell the public that you do not want to play politics because of Covid-19 because the reality is we are now under emergency,” he added.

Wan Saiful retorted to Asyraf that he was part of the government and the criticism would also affect him.

“We are together in the government and we need to remember that we are under a collective government. Such opinions (criticism) can cause the rakyat to be confused,” said Wan Saiful.

He asked Asyraf if he considered himself as part of the opposition as “this is quite weird”.

“We are part of the same government. Instead of going to the media, it is better to use WhatsApp so we can harmonise things,” Wan Saiful said.

Asked if PPBM would still trust Umno, Wan Saiful explained that usually different coalitions worked together after general elections which allowed them to form an understanding.

Now, he said that even though there were differences, respecting one another was crucial to ensure cooperation.

Asyraf, however, reminded Wan Saiful that it was not about going to the media for publicity.

“On the Tabung Haji and Adib case, we sent a memorandum to a minister to discuss the issue but he was silent on the matter.

“It is not only about WhatsApp. We also want to know the reason for not texting us through WhatsApp on the Dewan Negara appointment (of its president Rais Yatim). We only came to know about it one to two hours before the appointment,” he said, further adding that there should be sincerity from PPBM. - FMT