KUALA LUMPUR - The statement by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin at a forum recently was an “acknowledgement” that he was on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s side, alleged Rafizi Ramli.
Muhyiddin had recently said that Dr Mahathir always stood up in what he believed in and that the former premier was “not alone” in telling the truth, as reported by an online news portal following an anti-war forum here last weekend.
However, Dr Mahathir, when asked by reporters to comment, said the remarks made by Muhyiddin were in the context of him being vocal about war crimes.
PKR secretary-general Rafizi, however, saw the situation differently.
“The whole Umno politics has become farcical right now.
“People are talking cryptically and Muhyiddin’s statement was obviously an open acknowledgement that there is serious fractional strife in Umno and that he’s taking Mahathir’s side,” Rafizi told reporters when asked to comment on the issue.
Rafizi also said that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s continued silence on the criticisms was just Umno’s way of politics and wasn’t happening for the first time.
“It’s happened before. Even during Tun Hussein Onn’s time, there was pressure to step down, then Tun Abdullah Badawi. That’s Umno’s tradition.
“Through this tradition, the grassroots leadership will try to read which way the wind blows.
“That’s why the PM will quietly try to defend his position and those who challenge him will continue to do so.”
His worry was that the rakyat would be “dragged into” the current spat, believing that a new Prime Minister could change Malaysia.
“That is a danger for Pakatan Rakyat because whoever the Prime Minister is, so long as they are from Umno, it’s not going to resolve our problems now.
“We will still be bogged down by race and religious issues, corruption problems and so on. So our focus is not to get dragged in their politics.”
The recent cooperation between the Opposition and Dr Mahathir, that was mooted by DAP leader Lim Kit Siang, was also not a solution to Rafizi.
When asked to comment on the idea, Rafizi said he wasn’t surprised by Lim’s suggestion.
“He has always put the interests of the public above everything else.
“That’s why I think if working with Tun M is in the best interests of the public, he will pursue that. I’m not surprised.
“In my case it’s different, because all the issues that Tun M is talking about now are the very issues I’ve been screaming about for the last four years.
“So I don’t think the issue of cooperating arises.” - Therakayatpost
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