Gobind plays safe in party-hopping dispute
Debra Chong – The Malaysian Insider
While DAP chairman Karpal Singh has stuck out his neck in demanding the resignation of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, his son and first-term MP Gobind Singh Deo prefers to stay on neutral ground.
The Puchong MP told reporters here today that he fully supported his father’s view that “party hopping is unethical and strikes at the very core, which is the rakyat’s trust in the candidates in elections”.
Gobind also agreed with the battle-hardened politician in insisting on the creation of an Anti-Defection Law.
But when it came to supporting the “Lion of Jelutong” who has been under fire for demanding Anwar quit his post as Opposition Leader in Parliament, Gobind – nicknamed the “Little Lion of Puchong” — produced a surprisingly meek outlook.
“Whether or not Anwar Ibrahim should step down as the Pakatan Rakyat leader, I leave to the national leaders to decide. I will not comment,” Gobind told reporters at the Sessions Court here.
He refused to be drawn into a discussion if the DAP chairman had a point that Anwar “should be asked to take responsibility for his style of politics that advocates crossovers”.
Gobind said he had “a lot of respect for Anwar Ibrahim” who succeeded in pulling together the three political parties despite their diverse ideologies.
Karpal had last week publicly condemned Anwar for allegedly starting the party-hopping business which saw the takeover of the PR-led Perak state government after four of its lawmakers switched loyalties to the Barisan Nasional (BN).
Unlike his father, Gobind maintained that he was “not upset” with party advisor Lim Kit Siang nor secretary-general Guan Eng.
But he expressed disappointment in the Lim father-and-son tag team who failed to immediately back the chairman’s views to the public.
“I would say they should have come out strongly in support of the chairman. I see absolute logic in what he is saying and he should get the support for his views,” Gobind added.
He rubbished the suggestion that the conflict between the DAP leaders and the other two parties in PR were threatening the coalition’s working relationship.
He noted that there have been many disagreements among the leaders before, which have always been successfully resolved and made the DAP “stronger” as a result.
He suggested that the coalition leaders should all sit down and discuss their differences in opinion “soon”, preferably before the next by-elections are held, and believes that they will do so.
Pulling out from the coalition is a “very drastic measure”, Gobind said.
He added that he did not foresee it happening at this point.
