Mahathir merely a 3rd Force criticising Najib
BNBBC chairman says former PM was neither holding any Umno posts nor was in government to know what was going on.
Lin KayKay, Free Malaysia Today
Tan Sri Shahrir Samad, currently the chairman of the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC), took to TV3 last night to pledge that he would never criticise the nation’s leaders and attributed this to his loyalty to the party.
However, taking questions during TV3’s Soal Jawab programme, he wanted the local community to make a decision about former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s idea of a “crooked bridge” to replace Malaysia’s half of the causeway and link up with Singapore’s half. “It would be nice to have the bridge,” he said, speaking as a Johore Baru resident. “It would benefit the local people.”
“Such a decision should not be made only by Putrajaya but by the local people affected. I support the aspirations of the local people on the crooked bridge.”
Shahrir described the “crooked bridge” idea as Mahathir’s main criticism of the Najib administration, ignoring the former Prime Minister’s statement that he “can live without the crooked bridge but that there were other issues”.
Najib, he warned, would not budge on his policies, especially on the economy, as he still commanded the support of the majority of the MPs.
He referred, during the interview, to his constraints generally as a parliamentarian who is the BNBBC chairman. He was required to take care of the party, uphold Parliament as an institution and support the Prime Minister. “I believe in Umno’s positive values and in loyalty and serving,” he hastened to add. “Whatever happens, one must not destroy the party.”
He added that “if one truly loves the party”, he would not say that he made a mistake by resigning as the Prime Minister, referring to a statement by Mahathir. “The former prime minister’s views can only be seen as a 3rd Force. He was not in Parliament and neither did he hold any party posts in Umno or was he in government to know what was going on,” he said in a reference to Mahathir’s stepped up criticism of the Najib administration.
There are people who would never be satisfied with the answers given by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak as they had already pre-judged the issues, he lamented. “We can’t do much as the government cannot please everybody.”
Shahrir also referred to his open defiance of Mahathir when the latter was Prime Minister for 22 years from 1981 to 2003.
