What happened to your consensus rule? Kit Siang asks after PM says BN split over Sept 16 rally
(MMO) – DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang launched a volley at the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition today, asking its component leaders if they really practised their oft-touted consensus principle when Umno appeared to hold veto power over decisions.
The veteran opposition lawmaker called Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s bluff, and claimed that the prime minister’s declaration last night that his coalition had “agreed to disagree” on going-ahead with a controversial rally tomorrow signalled the “death knell” for BN.
“What has happened to the much-vaunted consensus principle of Barisan Nasional which had been hailed as the key to BN’s success?
“Has the BN consensus principle been abandoned and replaced by what Umno wants and decides, where in the 13-party coalition, the views and stands of the other parties do not matter when they clash with the views and stand of Umno?” Lim asked in a statement.
The Gelang Patah MP pointed out that the majority of BN’s political party leaders were against tomorrow’s rally as it is the “complete antithesis to the very idea, concept and vision of Malaysia Day”, which celebrates the partnership of Tanah Melayu with Sabah and Sarawak as a federation.
“Leaders of Sarawak and Sabah component parties of Barisan Nasional have called for the cancellation of the racially-charged and anti-Malaysia Red Shirts September 16 rally in Kuala Lumpur, and the ignoring of their calls is a sign of their irrelevance and impotence in the Barisan Nasional coalition, except to provide the numbers to allow Najib to become the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia,” Lim said.
