Ku Li denies praising new Cabinet line up

(Bernama) — Gua Musang Member of Parliament Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has denied that he had praised the new Cabinet as neat and capable as reported by the media Saturday.

In a press conference at his office here, he said the capability of the new Cabinet had yet to be seen and it was not fair for him to judge them at this point of time.

"After all it's going to be performance oriented, that's good, but let us see after six months whether they are able to perform the way they are supposed to," he said.

Razaleigh said it is the hope of many including himself that the new Cabinet will be able to bring back the confidence of the people towards the country's leadership, without which, a lot of problems, namely corruption, racial disharmony and economic could not be tackled effectively.

He also said there was a need to reform the education policy and system, specifically the PPSMI (teaching of Science and Mathematics in English).

He said the PPSMI was not successful especially with rural students, who he said had become victims of the policy.

"We cannot continue this experiment and there must be readiness on the government's side to abandon it," he said.

Commenting on the early moves by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as the new Prime Minister, he said the release of the 13 ISA detainees was a good move but questioned why all the other detainees were not freed.

"Why are they so selective? Release only a few and did not release the rest?"

"People's lives and freedom cannot be used as a political ploy," he said.

Responding to a question by reporters, Razaleigh said he still believed in the forming of a Unity Government as it would help to bring in fresh ideas.

"It's not new (the concept of Unity Government), it was tried by Tun Razak from 1974 to 1978," he said.

He also said he hoped that the new prime minister would respond positively to the idea as PAS had also agreed to it.

"With Barisan Nasional losing five states in the last general election, with all this issues coming out, like racial and religious problems, I think it's best to put our heads together and map out the future of this country by bringing all the leaders from all sections and parties together," he said.