Kit Siang: Sour grapes Najib should put up or shut up
By Wong Choon Mei, Suara Keadilan
DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang has slammed Prime Minister Najib Razak for sour grapes over the Pakatan Rakyat’s runaway win at the recent Penanti by-election, daring the unpopular PM to seek a confidence vote from Parliament if he was truly “brave enough”.
Contending that Najib was the last person in Malaysia to question the solidity of the Pakatan’s win – especially on the basis that “the voter turnout was less than 50 percent” – Kit Siang pointed out that Najib’s own approval rating was itself well below the halfway mark.
Said Kit Siang: “It is indeed shocking that less than two months into his administration, Najib could only muster the approval of 45 per cent of Malaysians polled recently in a Merdeka Centre survey.
“Najib should seek a vote of confidence as the first item of parliamentary business when Parliament reconvenes on June 15 for the next meeting, or is Najib afraid that he would not be able to get 100 per cent support from UMNO and Barisan Nasional MPs?”
“Both Tun Hussein Onn and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi sought a vote of confidence from Parliament in their first month in office as Prime Minister. Why is Najib afraid to follow in their footsteps?”
Pakatan’s Mansor Othman had steamrolled over three Independent candidates at by-election for the Penanti state seat. He swept 85 percent or 6,052 out of a total 7,100 votes cast.
However, the voter turnout was only 46 percent, thanks mainly to Umno’s boycott of the contest on Sunday. Having lost in four of the past five by-elections Najib had decided to skip Penanti in a bid to prevent further political damage to himself and his party.
The Merdeka Centre of Opinion Research had on Tuesday released its latest survey. It showed that only half of Najib’s own Malay community were happy him. The Chinese outright distrusted him, with only 24 percent willing to say they were satisfied with his performance as PM. The Indians however loved him, with 64 percent giving him the thumbs up.
