Perkasa to rap youth chief for telling Najib to quit

ARCHIVES 2013

By admin-j On Aug 28, 2013

Youth chief Irwan Fahmi Ideris’s blog posting also caught the main body of the right wing Malay rights group off guard that they now want to call him for an explanation over his statement which he repeated to The Malaysian Insider.

(TMI) – According to Irwan, Barisan Nasional (BN) was voted into power by the Malay community with the help of the Indians, but Najib had failed to defend the two ethnic groups.

Even despite the usual strident rhetoric, the youth wing of Perkasa shocked many with a call, asking Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down.

“I did not know that Perkasa Youth had such powers to ask the prime minister to resign,” the Malay rights group deputy president Datuk Abdul Rahman Abu Bakar told The Malaysian Insider, expressing shock that Irwan made such a bold statement.

He said he will speak to the Wira Perkasa leader soon to explain himself.

Irwan’s statement takes one step further the criticism from his boss, Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali, who has been critical of Najib’s election strategy, saying recently that the group will not align itself to any party after Election 2013.

Ibrahim had also lamented this to Perkasa patron Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in a meeting last month where Najib received brickbats for Barisan Nasional’s poor performance in the May 5 general election.

Perkasa officials said Dr Mahathir had understood the group’s move to be neutral in coming elections despite a majority of its members being from Umno. But the group has never before asked Najib to step down.

Irwan told The Malaysian Insider this week that at a recent meeting with Najib, Perkasa had urged the Prime Minister to make immediate reforms to protect Malay voters who had elected Barisan Nasional (BN) into government.

Irwan, however, said the Prime Minister has refused to heed the group’s call.

“Najib has not changed. We have given him time but now things are getting worse… crime cases, the issue on the use of the word Allah – all these happened in the run-up to the polls when other incidents also took place, like the repeal of the ISA,” he said in reference to the government’s decision to repeal the Internal Security Act (ISA) and Emergency Ordinance as part of its transformation programme ahead of the 13th General Election.

“The best thing that he can do now is to step down since things are getting worse instead of getting better,” he added.

Irwan made the call in a Sunday blog post entitled “Sudah Cukup Segalanya Digadai, Hj Najib Wajar Meletakkan Jawatan” (Enough of selling out, only fair that Najib resigns) and accused the prime minister of failing to manage the country’s affairs.

According to Irwan, Barisan Nasional (BN) was voted into power by the Malay community with the help of the Indians, but Najib had failed to defend the two ethnic groups.

“The Malays, with the help of Indians, gave him the power to lead. The Chinese only gave him 8% of the votes.

“This is Wira Perkasa’s stand… I do not know what is the stand of the Perkasa leaders. This is the most that we can do. We too contributed to BN’s win.”

In his blog posting, Irwan had also written, “1Malaysia, BR1M, clearly FAILED by handing out additional provisions to vernacular schools.”

“This is because the leaders wanted to win 26% of its votes from the Chinese. It is evident that this failed to work with the Chinese, as although more Chinese voters turned up, only 8% chose the government.

“Meanwhile many Indians supported the government. But the crime rate attributed to the Indians is increasing.”

Irwan also criticised the slogan 1Malaysia and the 1Malaysia People’s Assistance (BR1M) programme. He called these campaigns “bribery that has been made lawful by the government”.

Irwan added, “unfortunately the nation’s highest leaders are still appointing people that should not be there. Shouts of 1Malaysia are obviously by their lackeys, so I want to ask if 1Malaysia is successful. In my opinion, it is clear that it failed.”