(Speech by DAP MP for Ipoh Timor Lim Kit Siang at the opening of the DAP Tebing Tinggi service centre, Ipoh on Saturday, 28th June 2008)
One result of the March 8 “political tsunami” which saw the end of the Barisan Nasional’s unbroken two-thirds parliamentary majority and its loss of five state governments, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Kedah and Kelantan, is a bout of public soul searching by some Barisan Nasional leaders.
One such public heart-baring was by the Gerakan Adviser Datuk Seri Lim Keng Yaik who confessed that as Umno did not give the other component parties equal standing, Gerakan, MCA and MIC were reduced to the status of “beggars” in the ruling coalition – resulting in their massive rejection by the electorate in the March 8 “political tsunami”.
Gerakan Acting President Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon has proven his predecessor right about the “beggar politics” and “beggar mentality” of Gerakan vis-à-vis Umno in Barisan Nasional in his response to the RM3.5 billion Ninth Malaysia Plan Mid-Term Review deferring of the PORR and Monorail projects in Penang.
Tsu Koon should demand a rightful say as an equal partner in the ruling coalition on major decisions particularly those affecting Penang, such as the two “signature” Ninth Malaysia Plan projects of the Barisan Nasional for Penang instead of concocting excuses to justify the deferral of the two projects, like blaming the Penang people for voting in a new state government in the March general election or criticizing the DAP Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for sending allegedly “confusing signals” to the Federal Government.
If Yong Teck Lee of SAPP is prepared to forsake “beggar politics” in Barisan Nasional and could stand up for the legitimate rights and interests of the people of Sabah to the extent of facing disciplinary action by the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council, why is Tsu Koon not prepared to do more to defend the legitimate rights and interests of the people of Penang and send a clear and unmistakable message to Umno that the March 8 “political tsunami” must mean an end to “beggar politics” in Barisan Nasional if Gerakan and all other component parties in BN are to survive and remain relevant to the needs and aspirations of Malaysians?