Wan Azizah’s decision to not invite PSM but door still open, says Tian Chua
(The Malaysian Insider) – Opposition leader Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail made the decision on who to invite to Tuesday’s roundtable talks on Pakatan Harapan, PKR’s vice-president Chua Tian Chang said today, amid a war of words over Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s (PSM) absence that day.
But Chua said that PSM should not interpret the snub as a signal that it had no place in the new coalition, adding that he believed it had a lot to contribute to the struggle for reform.
“The participants invited in this first meeting was purely the prerogative of the opposition leader. Although PSM (as well as several other parties and NGOs) was not called at this stage, it does not mean that it is excluded.
“The process is at the very early steps and more follow-up discussions will be facilitated until we achieve our final goal of uniting all parties with common objectives.”
However, Chua did not reveal why Dr Wan Azizah chose not to invite PSM to Tuesday’s discussion, where new opposition pact, Pakatan Harapan, comprising DAP, PKR and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah), was unveiled.
Yesterday, former PSM secretary-general S. Arutchelvan expressed unhappiness over Amanah’s Khalid Samad and DAP’s Ong Kian Ming’s claims that the party was not invited to the discussion because it rejected Article 153 of the Constitution on Malay’s special privileges.
Arutchelvan said it was a lie and that PSM had always supported Pakatan Rakyat’s common policy framework, which included accepting Article 153.
This prompted Ong and Khalid to issue a joint statement clarifying that they had merely relayed what Dr Wan Azizah told them on Tuesday.
“The reason we were told at the meeting by PKR president and opposition leader, Wan Azizah, on why PSM were not invited was because they were opposed to Article 153 in the Federal Constitution concerning the special position of the Malays and the Bumiputeras in Sabah and Sarawak,” they said yesterday.
