Tunku Aziz to be dropped as senator
The DAP vice-president however calls it a “small sacrifice”.
(Free Malaysia Today) – DAP vice-president, Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim, has confirmed that his open condemnation of the Bersih 3.0 rally has cost him his Senator’s position.
Rumours had surfaced earlier that Tunku Abdul Aziz would be booted from his post and that his term ending May 30 would not be renewed as a result of him breaking ranks with his party leadership by publicly opposing the rally for clean and fair elections.
A senatorship is for three years with a maximum of two terms. The 78-year-old Tunku Abdul Aziz is the first senator from the DAP.
Just a few days before the rally was set to take place on April 28, Tunku Abdul Aziz had said that the event would encourage Malaysians to “break the law”.
He also questioned the Bersih 3.0 organisers’ insistance that the rally would be a peaceful one and noted that many such rallies began with a similar intent but ended up in violence and chaos.
Tunku Abdul Aziz’s words rang true on April 28 when police and protesters clashed an hour after the rally began.
In the aftermath, he appeared to pin the responsibility of the violence on Bersih and was quoted saying that they “are not a group of angels descended from heaven who are completely blameless.”
Tunku Abdul Aziz has acknowleged that these statements were what led to him losing his Senator post.
“Yes it is true that I will not be re-elected,” he told Bernama. “It is merely a small sacrifice.”
