No need to waste time ‘settling scores’, says Rafizi

 

Rafizi Ramli said parties calling for a review of the anti-hopping law should instead look at amending their own party constitution. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: Digging up the past to “settle scores” will not benefit any of the unity government’s coalition partners, says PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli.

Commenting on the alleged Barisan Nasional (BN) campaign material from the general election last year, which claimed DAP leaders were related to the late Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) leader Chin Peng, he said there would be no point in raising the issue now.

“We were in a unique junction of history following the outcome of the last general election,” he said during a press conference at the Asia School of Business here.

“When we agreed to form this unity government, we decided to put our differences aside and made sure the focus was on (developing) the country.

“I don’t think anyone in the unity government wants to spend too much time settling scores. It does not help society. Our job is to focus on the bigger picture, which is nation-building.”

At a press conference yesterday, Bersatu’s Wan Saiful Wan Jan urged DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng to take legal action against BN, its ally in the unity government, for allegedly publishing campaign material linking DAP leaders to Chin Peng.

He claimed that the book titled ‘BN Communications Campaign Material’, which was released prior to the 15th general election (GE15) last year, “proves that the link between DAP and Chin Peng was started by BN”.

This comes as Kepala Batas MP Siti Mastura Mohamad was questioned by the police on Tuesday after reports were lodged over a Nov 4 ceramah in Terengganu, where she alleged that DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang and Chin Peng were cousins.

The PAS women’s wing deputy chief also repeated other claims, which could be found in the book, such as Guan Eng and Kit Siang being cousins of the late Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok being a cousin of Guan Eng’s wife Betty Chew, and several DAP leaders being blood relations of the Lim family.

Mastura said she had given the reference material on which her speech was based on to the police. However, she did not state whether she was referring to the same material that Wan Saiful brought up, and neither did he link her to the book during his press conference.

Meanwhile, Rafizi said parties that are keen on reviewing the anti-hopping law should instead look at amending their constitution, adding that the matter has not been discussed by the Cabinet.

This comes as Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin recently described the anti-hopping law as flawed and called for a review after four Bersatu MPs pledged their support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Two of the MPs have since been suspended by the party.

On Tuesday, DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook said Bersatu should emulate DAP in amending its constitution to prevent its MPs from declaring support for the current government.

In September last year, both DAP and Amanah amended their respective party constitutions so that elected representatives who do not toe the party line on fundamental issues would automatically lose their membership.

At the time, both parties said the amendment was needed to avoid a ‘loophole’ in the anti-hopping law in which MPs sacked by their party do not have to vacate their seats. - FMT