Step out of Dr M’s shadow, call for GE
DAP national chairman says Najib must earn the right to be prime minister. He also wants the PM to bestow bumiputera status for all Malaysians born on and after August, 1957.
GEORGE TOWN: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak mush quash the perception that Dr Mahathir Mohamad is still running the nation.
To do this, DAP Karpal Singh said Najib must call for a general election and earn his right to be the prime minister.
Pointing to the ever growing public excitement and demand for the general election, he said it was time for Najib to come out of Mahathir’s shadow.
“The perception is that Mahathir is the de facto prime minister,” he told reporters here.
Mahathir, who stepped down in 2003 after 22 years at the helm, continues to be an influential leader in both Barisan Nasional and Umno.
The 84-year-old statesman also played an instrumental role in removing former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, to pave the way for Najib’s rise to the post.
Give bumiputera status
Karpal also said Najib should bestow bumiputera status on all Malaysians born in the country on and after August 1957 as his first pro-active step to realise his transformation plan.
Secondly, he added, Najib should implement meritocracy as the crucial yardstick in the appointment of judges and civil servants, especially doctors.
“A lip service to transformation will get the prime minister nowhere. The prime minister should not try to pull wool over the eyes of the citizens.
“He should not just dwell on its peripheral. The PM should move closer to its core,” he said.
By bestowing bumiputera status, Karpal suggested Najib would initiate the first constructive transformation action.
He said meritocracy should be an important policy especially in the appointment of judges and doctors given that both professions dealt with human lives.
He noted that judges were empowered to sentence one to death in court while doctors were to save lives.
Thus, he warned that the people would become victims if the appointments were not based on meritocracy.
“For a meaningful transformation, meritocracy should be the foremost factor. When it comes to judicial and medical appointments, the best must be chosen,” he insisted.
Karpal was commenting on DAP former vice-chairman Tunku Aziz Tunku Ibrahim’s impassioned call to the people to support Najib.
Shocked by Tunku Aziz’s backing
Tunku Aziz, who quit DAP on Monday, urged Malaysians to give Najib the chance and time to see his currently implemented transformation programmes come into fruition.
Karpal said he was “taken aback” by Tunku Aziz’s statement that the prime minister was on the right track with regard to his transformation plan.
“Tunku Aziz has always been an opponent of government policies. He has never stated such views when he was in DAP. I’m taken aback,” he added.
Tunku Aziz quit the party citing differences with DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.
Karpal admitted that the exit of Tunku Aziz, whom he described as man of principle, was a loss to DAP.
He said it was most unfortunate that the matter had come to a dead end.
Asked whether he would talk to Tunku Aziz, Karpal’s reply was negative. “I don’t think so … the chapter is close,” he added.
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