Aren't UMNO Youth leaders aware of the “MOU” their party had earlier signed with PH and other parties to form the unity government?
“Who are you to ask DAP to withdraw its sole Exco position from the state government?” This is the question Melaka DAP chairman Khoo Poay Tiong seemed to have hurled at UMNO Youth chief Akmal Saleh; he also alleged that from the beginning of the formation of the unity government, the latter appeared bent on bringing down the Madani administration.
Nevertheless, the vocal lawmaker stressed that DAP Melaka will not succumb to 'provocations' while adding that the party’s position in the state would be determined by DAP itself – and not by external parties!
Why so desperate to topple the unity government?
He was responding to calls in UMNO Youth's special convention last Saturday (Jan 3) where Akmal had allegedly challenged DAP to resign from the Melaka state government.
Earlier Khoo had explained that DAP’s representation in the Melaka state administration was done in the “spirit of the unity government” by the state’s chief minister Rauf Yusoh.
Isn't UMNO Youth going against the decision of its own party leader?
He had further stressed: “We are not power-hungry, nor are we obsessed with positions. What matters most is the impact of any decision – on the state, on the people and on the party. That is our priority. We will not be dragged into his political games.”
More tongue-lashing for UMNO Youth…
Meanwhile, commenting on Khoo’s rebuttal, prominent political commentator Dato Syed Azuan aka DSA said Akmal would have felt there was no need to invite DAP to join the state government as the nationalist party already had a more than sufficient majority to rule.
Speaking in his popular YouTube channel, Azuan seemed to affirm what Khoo had stated earlier that it was the Melaka chief minister, who is close to UMNO president Zahid Hamidi, who had offered an Exco position to DAP.
DAP leaders have proven that they are not “crazy” for positions – unlike some from other parties!
Furthermore, according to him, party chief Anthony Loke had even stated that they will wait for six months to see if reforms can be implemented, only then will they evaluate and decide whether to relinquish their ministerial posts in the Madani government.
On Akmal's call for UMNO to quit the PH-led unity government as the latter was said to have crossed the so-called “red line," he believed the UMNO Youth chief had taken umbrage at the alleged “insulting” remarks made by some DAP leaders following ex-PM Najib Razak's recent failure to obtain house arrest from the court.
Azuan: But not everyone in the country may be agreeable to Najib being granted house arrest – and everyone has their own stand on justice!
The Madani slant commentator then went on to ask Akmal if by collaborating with PAS, was his party willing to surrender the important Jasin parliamentary seat to the Islamist party in the coming GE16?
Is UMNO Youth ready to “gift wrap” the prized Jasin parliamentary seat to the incumbent PAS come GE16?
Azuan further questioned Akmal's political sandiwara (drama) that the position of Malay-Muslims has been challenged, while pointing out that the latter were now more dynamic, forward thinking and would not accept the old kind of politics that Akmal was aggressively promoting.
Is it true the rights of Malay-Muslims in this country have been trampled on – just because an ex-UMNO president lost his court case?
Azuan had further warned there is no guarantee that by UMNO joining forces with PAS all the Malays in the country will gravitate to them; in fact, drawing from his own experience he said that he has never felt his Malay rights were being threatened by the Chinese!
Finally, he reminded Akmal that UMNO had actually signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), whereby it can only surrender its cabinet posts in the government (as what DAP had insinuated earlier) and not withdraw its support of the unity government – and worse still, join the opposition!
In conclusion, perhaps, what the general public and some disillusioned members from his own party may be asking now is: in its haste to quit the unity government and “reunite” with PAS, has UMNO Youth actually ended up “dividing” its own party?
Notes to Ponder: Last Tuesday (Jan 6) a reliable news portal, under the caption “We won't be bitten by same snake twice…", had quoted UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as saying that the party will remain with Madani until the 16th general election; in that regard, isn't its gung-ho youth wing literally rebelling against its own top leadership?
Main information source: Fulcrum.sg / Sinar Daily / DSA YouTube Channel / DSA YouTube Channel and Malaysiakini.
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