BN leaders band together in stand over Perkasa

(The Star) PUTRAJAYA: Perkasa’s style of championing the cause of the Malays will only lead to racial disharmony, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.

He added that if left unchecked, it could lead to riots that would only cause everyone to lose.

Nazri said Umno could not align itself with Perkasa because its method of championing the rights of the Malays also took into account the interests of the other races and its programmes were designed for the best interest of the people.

Perkasa’s mission on the other hand, he said, was only to create a platform for its president Ibrahim Ali to contest and win his Pasir Mas parliamentary seat, that he won under the PAS ticket but later broke away to became an independent MP.

“Umno will never accept him and PAS will not be fooled again so he had to come up with a platform to help him win the seat again and he is hoping that Perkasa will provide this,” he told reporters during the Hari Raya open house hosted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Cabinet Ministers at Seri Perdana here on Friday.

He was commenting on Perkasa’s recent statement, where the group’s founder Datuk Ibrahim Ali said they did not need Umno’s support.

Ibrahim had said that Perkasa never had ties with Umno, but claimed that 60% of its members were Umno members.

Nazri said Ibrahim and others in Perkasa, including the Umno members supporting the group, were “desperados” using cheap political tactics and most Malays in the country were too clever to buy into their brand of politics.

“The Umno members in Perkasa are rejects from our party and the leaders at all levels of Umno are with the Prime Minister and his 1Malaysia concept that is why we will never subscribe to Perkasa’s way of fighting for the rights of the Malays,” he said.

Umno information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan said the party’s struggles were much bigger and wider in scope than Malay rights group Perkasa’s.

“The struggles of Umno are more holistic than Perkasa’s. Umno fights for the Malays and Malaysians, which Umno had been fighting for since 1946,” he said.

Asked if an association with Perkasa would cause voters to shy away from Umno, Ahmad said the party’s voter-base had not been affected.

Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin said Perkasa’s extreme method in fighting for the rights of the Malays and the fact that it gave no thought to the interests and sensitivities of the other races, was the reason that Umno could not subscribe to the its ways.

Meanwhile, MCA vice-president Gan Ping Sieu said there was no point dignifying Ibrahim with so many replies as Perkasa was “just an NGO”.

MCA vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said MCA was pleased that Umno had made a clear stand against Perkasa.

‘We are happy to see Malaysia as 1Malaysia that is moving forward towards a better future. Umno has made its stand and Perkasa has made its stand. Now, it is very clear what everyone’s stand is.

“We at MCA stand firm in what 1Malaysia is about,” she said.

MIC vice-president Datuk M. Saravanan said they did not support any individual that practised racism.

“It is not the right thing to do (to practise racism) as it can affect the country’s stability,” he said.

MIC vice-president Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said certain issues raised by Perkasa was affecting the country’s aspiration and attempts by Barisan to strengthen the relationship between races.

Former MIC deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam also criticised Perkasa for causing unease among the community through its actions.

“Perkasa is not saying the right things.

“Non-Malays have never begrudged the position of Malays as enshrined in the Constitution. They have to rethink their actions,” he added.