After Liew advises Umno, Zuraida points to DAP's 'big brother' tendencies

 

DAP's short stint in the federal government has shown their "big brother" tendencies, said Bersatu supreme council member Zuraida Kamaruddin, despite Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong's advice for Umno to do otherwise.

In a statement today, Zuraida said DAP had positioned itself as the "dominant" voice of the Chinese community when it was part of the Pakatan Harapan federal government.

"This was proven in the decision to channel special funds to private colleges directly from the Finance Ministry and not through the Education Ministry.

"DAP, through such means, strengthened their grip on the Chinese community. Everything they do or say is measured (to suit) the Chinese community, even though they are not the community's only representative," said Zuraida.

In doing so, she accused DAP of playing "big brother" among the Chinese community and that this was not healthy.

"There is no more 'big brother' who has a right to claim that only they exclusively represent one race. The new face of politics in Malaysia should be based on true harmony, not rhetoric.

"Any (political) leader should be a leader for all races," she said.

Zuraida was responding to a Facebook post by Liew yesterday who "advised" Umno on why it needs to drop the "big brother" mentality when it comes to coalition politics.

Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong

Instead, said Liew, Umno should learn to co-exist with other parties, regardless of whether it is in the government or not.

"The 'Sheraton Move' happened because many Umno leaders still have the old thinking and cannot accept defeat during the 2018 election.

"In the end, this strategy has come to haunt them," he said.

Liew was offering his "advice" based on views aired by Najib Abdul Razak during a recent interview. In it, Najib claimed the unstable political situation today is due to the lack of a "core party" leading the government.

"We can see that in our political scenario, no party can be the core party (in government) unless Umno and BN rejuvenate themselves.

"The rakyat is now aware that the cause of their hardship is due to the lack of political stability because there is no core party," Najib said.

The former prime minister is among a group of Umno figures who are highly critical of the Perikatan Nasional federal government, which Umno is a part of.

Officially, Umno will seek a "clean break" from the PN coalition once fresh elections are called. - Mkini