By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — PKR and DAP lawmakers have furiously dismissed the notion of a secret pact between the two allies to ensure Chinese rule should Pakatan Rakyat (PR) capture Putrajaya.
Instead both parties trained their guns on ex-PKR MP Zulkifli Noordin, who made the claim, calling him a liar who was “spinning tall tales” to serve his “political masters” in Barisan Nasional (BN).
The Kulim Bandar-Baharu MP told Parliament yesterday that there was a “secret contract” between PKR and DAP and that even PAS — a PR partner — was unaware of.
“There is no secret pact or deal at all. This is a ridiculous ploy by Zulkifli who only intention is to split up members of Pakatan Rakyat. “This is the kind of bankrupt politician that is being used by BN to suggest that sort of allegation against us, that we would go behind our own coalition partners… no we are not like BN,” said PKR vice-president Azmin Ali.
Dubbing Zulkifli as a “barking dog” of the ruling coalition, Azmin said that the increasing attacks against the opposition proved that BN was intimidated of the unity between the DAP, PKR and PAS.
“We are in the strongest position right now. We will continue to be strong, united and prove to be a formidable force in next general elections. The strength of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is always through discussions and coming out with a consensus,” Azmin told The Malaysian Insider.
DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang echoed his PR colleague’s views, and questioned the timing of Zulkifli’s “revelation.”
“There is no such thing, it is not true. Where is he trying to go with this?
“What he is saying is a fairy tale, Parliament should not be a place to spew fairy tales,” Lim told The Malaysian Insider.
But the Ipoh Timur refused to comment further, saying that he did not want to give his former PR colleague “too much importance.”
Another PKR MP, Fuziah Salleh dismissed Zulkifli’s allegations as “normal”, given the circumstances that two by-elections were around the corner.
“This is normal for Zulkifli Noordin, this is a ploy to serve his political masters. Biasalah, this is nearing the by-election, we expect that he would come out with something like this.
In six days time, November 4, the by-elections of Sabah’s Batu Sapi (parliamentary) and Kelantan’s Galas (state assembly) will be held.
“Stop telling tall tales Zul, be accountable for your actions,” Fuziah told The Malaysian Insider.
Like Azmin and Lim, the Kuantan MP took to great pains to explain that PKR would not make a pact solely with DAP and exclude PAS.
“We deny these claims, it is not true. If you look all three PAS, DAP, PKR we are united. Why would we go behind PAS and do something like that? It’s not in the nature of Pakatan politics. He is a liar,” said Fuziah.
In his parlimentary speech yesterday during the debate for Budget 2011, Zulkifli claimed that the “contract” inked between DAP and PKR promised Chinese leaders in DAP would obtain complete autonomy to rule Penang.
The independent MP who was once closely associated with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim lashed out at DAP, calling it a “chauvinist-infected party” and accused the party of being responsible for the May 13 riots in 1969.
“[Should PR take power] Malay candidates will be put in Negeri Sembilan and Perak. And if they win (in the states), they will pick a mentri besar from DAP to head the states,” he said yesterday.
Zulkifli and other independents in Parliament, who were former PR lawmakers, have denied claims that they are BN supporters, but his speech today echoes the oft used Umno line when attacking PR.
The independent MP, who is a harsh critic of PR, however did not provide any details to his accusations as his speech was abruptly cut short by Deputy Speaker Datuk Wan Junaidi Jaafar.