Ku Nan nafi komponen BN ambil pendirian jauhi PerkasaSetiausaha Agung Umno Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor menafikan rakan-rakannya dari Barisan Nasional (BN) pernah mengambil keputusan awal bulan ini untuk menjauhkan diri daripada Perkasa atas alasan pertubuhan bukan kerajaan itu menghakis sokongan mereka.
Penafian beliau itu muncul sehari selepas Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak kelmarin bahawa Umno tidak mahu mencetuskan konflik dengan mana-mana pertubuhan bukan kerajaan meskipun pemimpin-pemimpin Umno termasuk beliau menolak Perkasa.
“Apabila kami bertemu dengan setiausaha agung komponen BN, kami tidak pernah membincangkan langsung bahawa kami mahu menjauhkan diri daripada sesiapa,” kata Tengku Adnan yang juga Setiausaha Agung BN kepada The Malaysian Insider.
“Dasar kami ialah untuk rapat dengan sesiapa sahaja. “Kami harus pergi menemui dan malah, kami juga harus mendampingi ahli-ahli parti pembangkang dan menjelaskan kepada mereka dasar kami sebab mereka telah diberi maklumat yang salah (tentang BN),” kata Tengku Adnan.
Lebih seminggu lalu, Tengku Adnan dilaporkan bahawa rakan-rakannya dalam BN telah bersetuju bahawa menjauhkan perikatan itu daripada Perkasa adalah langkah terbaik untuk mengatasi sokongan bukan Melayu kepada BN yang didakwa semakin merosot.
Sokongan itu antara lain merosot kerana bukan Melayu melihat Umno menjalin kerjasama dengan Perkasa.
Tengku Adnan pernah menafikan Umno ada kerjasama dengan Perkasa ataupun menyokong perjuangan Perkasa.
Dalam temu bual dengan The Malaysian Insider sebelum ini beliau juga memberitahu bahawa Umno tidak akan menyokong Perkasa dalam pilihan raya umum akan datang.
Tengku Adnan menekankan bahawa BN tidak menjauhkan diri daripada Perkasa.
Jelas Tengku Adnan, beliau hanya memberitahu bahawa tindakan Perkasa sejak kebelakangan ini memperlekehkan peluang BN dalam pilihan raya umum akan datang dengan mensabotaj soal keharmonian kaum di kalagan komponen perikatan itu.
“Saya tidak pernah mengatakan kita perlu menjauhkan diri daripada Perkasa. Saya hanya mengatakan bahawa Perkasa cuba untuk menjejaskan keduudkan BN dalam pilihan raya umum akan datang dengan memusnahkan keharmonian kaum di kalangan komponen saya (dalam BN),” katanya.
Tengku Adnan juga berkata, beliau tidak pernah meminta ahli partinya agar memutuskan hubungan dengan Perkasa.
Sebaliknya, beliau mendakwa Presiden Perkasa Datuk Ibrahim Ali yang membesar-besarkan isu tersebut. Perkasa mendakwa mempunyai sokongan keahlian dalam lingkungan 300,000 dengan 80 peratus merupakan bekas atau ahli Umno semasa.
Tengku Adnan juga menekankan bahawa kenyataan beliau hari ini bertentangan dengan pandangan yang diberikan sebelum ini mengenai kedudukan Perkasa.
“Saya tidak berundur daripada apa yang pernah cakap tentang Perkasa sebelum ini,” katanya.
Tengku Adnan juga menekankan tentang apa yang dikatakan oleh Najib sambil berkata, Umno dan BN tidak harus menjauhkan diri daripada mana-mana NGO tetapi sewajarnya membimbing mereka dengan dasar-dasar BN.
“Saya setuju dengan Najib. Umno tidak harus menjauhkan diri mereka daripada semua NGO.
“Kita harus melibatkan diri kita dengan mereka sehingga mereka memahami apa yang kita sedang lakukan,” kata Tengku Adnan.
Tengku Adnan juga berkata, Umno perlu menjelaskan konsep 1 Malaysia khususnya kepada Perkasa memandangkan mereka tidak faham dasar tersebut.
“Saya tidak percaya pada apa yang Perkasa sedang perjuangkan kerana mereka tidak faham konsep 1 Malaysia,” katanya.
Semalam di Kota Baru, Ibrahim berkata, Perkasa tidak terlibat dengan politik tetapi menyuarakan hak rakyat melalui lunas-lunas perlembagaan.
Beliau mengulangi kenyataan ini bahawa Perkasa bukan parti politik dan juga tidak mendokong mana-mana parti politik termasuk Umno tetapi berjuang atas lunas undang-undang bagi pertahankan hak rakyat.
Ahli Parlimen Pasir Mas itu berkata, tafsiran pelbagai pihak terhadap perjuangan Perkasa adalah tidak tepat kalau dikaitkan dengan Umno atau BN tetapi apa yang diperjuangkan NGO itu adalah untuk membantu kaum Melayu.
“Ada masa kita tegur dia (kerajaan), ada masa kita kecam, ada juga kita buat laporan polis sekira perlu, semuanya ke arah menimbulkan keharmonian negara,” katanya.
Mengenai dakwaan anggota parti komponen BN bahawa Perkasa adalah pertubuhan yang disokong Umno, Ibrahim berkata pihaknya tidak pernah sekali pun bertemu dengan pemimpin Umno untuk apa-apa tujuan.
Beliau juga menegaskan belum bercadang untuk mengadakan kerjasama dengan mana-mana parti politik tetapi menumpukan perjuangan mempertahankan hak orang Melayu, Raja-raja Melayu, agama Islam dan perlembagaan negara.
Ibrahim melahirkan perasaan dukacita dengan teguran beberapa individu dalam Umno yang menganggap Perkasa boleh menjejaskan matlamat konsep 1 Malaysia. -TMI
Perkasa flip-flop shows up Najib’s fears, say political foes, analysts
Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s refusal to alienate Perkasa reflects his fears of Umno being rejected by Malay voters and potential in-fighting within his party, say his political foes and analysts.
The prime minister quelled fears of a showdown with Perkasa on Friday when he said the country’s largest Malay party was not in conflict with any non-governmental organisation despite the recent move by Umno leaders to distance the party from the Malay rights group.
“Umno members who are also Perkasa members may retaliate against Umno, so there is a negative impact on Umno,” PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali told The Malaysian Insider, referring to the decision by Umno leaders to reject Perkasa.
“So, Najib made the statement to redress the statement made earlier on by the Umno secretary-general. It is some form of damage control by Najib,” said Mustafa.
Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor had earlier told his Barisan Nasional (BN) allies that Umno would not back Perkasa or its president Datuk Ibrahim Ali in the next general election as such a move would erode non-Malay support for the ruling coalition.
Ibrahim then warned Umno not to be complacent about its vote bank and threatened to give “guidance” to Perkasa’s 300,000 members — 80 per cent of whom are alleged to be disillusioned Umno members — on how to vote in the next general election.
Tengku Adnan, who is also the BN secretary-general, has now said his statement did not repudiate Perkasa but was just an acknowledgment the Malay rights movement was eroding the coalition’s non-Malay support.
Political analyst James Chin said that Najib could not afford to make a public stand against Perkasa as doing so would cause Malay voters to reject the party.
“He (Najib) cannot do that because if he does that, it will alienate the Malay ground,” said Chin.
The political scientist from the University of Monash dismissed Najib as being just like his predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for attempting to please everyone.
“He is just like Pak Lah by trying to be nice to everyone under the sun. Whatever he does, he is preparing for the next general election,” said Chin, referring to the former premier’s moniker.
DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang also mocked Najib as “Mr. Flip Flop” for his refusal to snub Perkasa despite his party leaders’ decision to do so.
“Is he a new Mr Flip Flop from one position to another? It is a question of whether he has the political will to make a stand,” said the Ipoh Timur MP.
Political analyst Dr Lim Teck Ghee pointed out that Najib’s refusal to castigate Perkasa’s strident views on Malay rights – which have been at odds with his agenda of economic reform — indicated indecisive leadership.
“It certainly gives the impression that the PM is either running scared of Perkasa — hence, the refusal to condemn it — or is using Perkasa’s extreme positions as a political bargaining chip. Both ways, it is indicative of poor and indecisive leadership,” said Lim.
DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua also slammed the prime minister’s statement that Umno did not want to engage in conflict with NGOs as an “empty slogan” which was meant to appeal to different parties.
“The intent, just like his 1 Malaysia slogan, is to be all things to all people, which ends up just confusing everyone and becoming just an empty slogan in the end,” said Pua.
“If you are the concerned civil society, you’ll be happy that the prime minister is saying ‘something’ about Perkasa at last. If you are Perkasa, you’d think the prime minister is referring to the Chinese extremists in MCA, DAP and other education NGOs,” added the Petaling Jaya Utara MP.
Pua further chastised Najib and Umno for lacking the political courage to speak up against extremists who have deepened racial disunity and scared investors away.
“Najib and his Umno has no political courage to face up to the extremists who have been causing a great divide in the Malaysian society and scaring all the local and foreign investors away,” said Pua.
Perkasa has lobbied against attempts by the Najib administration to implement more inclusive economic reforms in a bid to increase the country’s competitiveness that has suffered because of affirmative action policies.
Malaysia dropped two spots in the World Economic Forum (WEF) competitiveness index at a ranking of 26 out of 132 countries, while foreign direct investment in the country plunged by 81 per cent last year.
Using the Malay rights platform, Perkasa has opposed any proposal to remove Bumiputera quotas and has even taken MCA leaders to task for making such proposals.
Political observer Azmi Sharom echoed Pua’s views and said that Najib’s refusal to condemn Perkasa indicated his lack of commitment towards his 1 Malaysia policy.
“Whatever the reason he (Najib) has for not coming out against Perkasa honestly and openly, what it shows is that Najib is not serious about 1 Malaysia. Najib has exposed himself as a person who does not have the full conviction to support his policies to the end,” said the law lecturer.
He pointed out that it was imperative for Najib to make a clear stand against Perkasa although the group had a right to voice their opinions.
“You can’t just come up with this wishy-washy thing and say that they’re an NGO. Sure they have a right to speak but you have to stand up against them,” said Azmi.
PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar believed that Najib’s reluctance to alienate Perkasa showed his fears of former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s backing of the group, as well as fears of an internal revolt to replace him with his deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
“It shows that he’s very worried about Dr Mahathir’s involvement in Perkasa, and he’s also worried that there may be parties within Umno who would back Muhyiddin against Najib,” said Mahfuz.
Dr Mahathir, who is Perkasa’s patron, has warned Umno against snubbing Perkasa, claiming that the move would cost the party at the ballot box.
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