DAP chief against Anwar plan to seize power via crossovers of BN MPs
Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Karpal Singh said people would feel cheated if MPs or assemblymen hopped over to another party.
PETALING JAYA - THE opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition should embark on capturing the federal and state governments only during the next general election, and not seize power via the crossovers of ruling Barisan Nasional MPs, said a senior opposition figure.
Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Karpal Singh said the people's choice during the election should be honoured, and the people would feel cheated if MPs or assemblymen hopped over to another party.
He said he has never supported the opposition's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim's plan to topple the BN government by wooing the ruling MPs to join the opposition.
'In fact, as far back as March 23, 2008, I had gone to the extent of saying DAP would support the Barisan-led federal government to amend the Constitution to make party-hopping illegal by providing more than the eight MPs required by the Barisan to make up for the two-thirds majority needed to amend the Constitution.'
His comments add to the recent public airing of disagreements among opposition lawmakers. The coalition consists of the DAP, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS).
Mr Singh also castigated opposition lawmaker S. Manikavasagam for wanting to leave the PKR. Mr Manikavasagam had complained that the PKR was not serious about resolving issues in the Indian community.
DAP stalwart M. Kulasegaran also said yesterday that he is not seeking reappointment as Ipoh city councillor after his term expired on Dec 31, The Malaysian Insider reported.
Separately, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said the political storm among the Pakatan Rakyat partners proved that the parties did not have a common policy to be able to govern the country.
He said that within a short time after the 12th general election last March, cracks were already showing, apart from the Pakatan Rakyat parties having different ideologies.
'This is happening when they have not yet ruled the country. As the opposition pact, they seem to be going different ways,' Datuk Seri Najib said.
Some BN lawmakers have previously said the opposition was split by problems among leaders of its component parties, as well as racial strife.
But Pakatan Rakyat leaders have strongly denied this. 'The Pakatan Rakyat coalition members all share the common goal of serving everyone equally, regardless of their race and even political affiliation,' said DAP MP Ronnie Liu.
PKR lawmaker Yaakob Sapari said it was untrue that Indians had a problem with PKR. 'I had a meeting with Indians in Puchong several days ago and they are fully backing the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.'
