by Lim Guan Eng
DAP Secretary-General
When announcing his resignation from DAP, Senator Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim cited “irreconcilable differences” with the party leadership in dissenting with DAP’s official position to support Bersih 3.0 to conduct a peaceful sit-in protest in Dataran Merdeka to press for clean, free and fair elections.
DAP is big enough for Tunku Abdul Aziz to remain as National Vice-Chair and accomodate his” irreconciliable differences” with the DAP on Bersih’s quest to conduct a sit-in protest in Dataran Merdeka to press for clean elections
Malaysiakini reported Tunku Abdul Aziz as saying his open disagreement with DAP made Tunku himself choose not to be re-nominated as a senator for Penang when his term expired on 30 May 2012, and stated that he was not sacked from his Dewan Negara’s post by DAP.
Tunku Aziz had also suggested to the party leadership that DAP should subject him to the “same disciplinary procedure as any other party member” for his dissent. As disciplinary action from DAP was not forthcoming he had decided to resign from the DAP to avoid further embarrassment.
I would like to express my sadness at Tunku’s announcement. DAP believes in freedom of speech and that every member and leader has a right to differ. I don’t agree that any disciplinary action should be taken against Tunku for differing with the party on Bersih’s right to do the sit-in protest in Dataran Merdeka.
Indeed there was general unhappiness at all levels in the party that he openly went against the party official position on Bersih before the rally on 28 April and also after.
However, just as Tunku has the right to openly voice his dissent, the party’s right to state its position on such a fundamental policy position as Bersih must also be respected.
The party did not punish Tunku for voicing his dissent openly nor at any stage asked him to leave or resign.
I feel sad about Tunku wanting to leave the party because of differences over Bersih.
After all Tunku had joined DAP because DAP offered a platform to promote integrity and fight corruption.
DAP’s performance in government after winning power in Penang in 2008 has been walking the talk in promoting integrity and fighting corruption.
Penang Pakatan Rakyat has taken the lead with open competitive tenders, open disclosure of government contracts and public declaration of assets by leaders.
Not only Transparency International and the Auditor-General Report praised Penang’s financial performance, even former MCA President Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik praised Penang for performing well and been clean from corruption.
Despite Tunku open dissent, the DAP leadership does not want him to leave the party but remain as DAP Vice-Chair.
I hope we can resolve whatever differences within the party in the spirit of comradeship.
I will contact Tunku to see him to discuss with him and hope he can change his mind about leaving the party.
#1 by Jeffrey on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 2:58 pm
Its never too late to rectify a mistake. Is the DAP prepared to announce that it will rescind/withdraw the motion to appoint Dr Ariffin S.M. Omar in replacement of Tunku Aziz, as senator?
#2 by rahmanwang on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 3:05 pm
Just for one difference in believe Tunku wants to resign?
Just for one difference DAP wants to take disciplinary action on Tunku?
Then I would have divorced my wife many many times, or I would have married many times over.
We are bound to have differences that makes us “human”.
#3 by vsp on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 3:15 pm
How come Tunku Aziz can keep mum and tolerate corruption, opaqueness and police brutality aplenty in the UMNO regime and yet quibble about the people’s aspiration for a clean and fair election? He is a political naiveté and a misfit for opposition politics; and if we were to follow his desire not to rock the status quo, then it would take us another 1,000 years, or not at all, to effect change.
Tunku Aziz had an illustrious career in Transparency Malaysia in the fight against corruption and opaqueness in government. He was a feisty and gutsy campaigner for transparency and was not afraid to buck the trend that Malays should remain with UMNO. As a result of this, he was treated as a pariah and an ungrateful Malay by Mahathir. But when he join DAP and was appointed as senator he seemed to have lost his mojo. He rested on his laurels and felt good enough to depend on past glories. His voice was muted and he seemed to have gone into deep hibernation. When he was jolted out of his sleep, he dropped a bombshell by renouncing the cherished principles that he had dedicated a great portion of his career to promote. He drove a stake through the heart of his dream and adopted the opposite that he had inveighed against.
Tunku Aziz’s dissent against his own party is a personal vendetta between him and Mohammad Sabu of PAS. Mohammad Sabu had said some nasty things about the police, and Tunku Aziz who hailed from a police family was livid. He should have settled the matter with Sabu’s party but instead he couched his personal affront as a disguise to dissent against the Bersih’s rally. If he had confronted or challenged Sabu, I would whole-heartedly support his stand 100%. Sabu is an uncouth politician, no doubt about it. In other words, Tunku Aziz is not honest with himself.
it’s no use crying over spilt milk and get sentimental over him; let’s just carry on without him.
#4 by Jeffrey on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 3:18 pm
One first of all have to distinguish honest and reasoned dissent especially one based on conscience or perception of higher cause from dissent for the sake of dissent or which purpose of continuous dissent is actually subterranean subversive disloyalty or just a vain attempt at notoriety! Dissent of one (even if he were wrong) cannot derail the course of majority decision which is right. On the other hand suppression of dissent which is right (in the name of discipline and uniformity or outward show of consensus) also will not derail cannot derail the course of majority decision which is wrong. There lies the value of freedom of speeh and the right of dissent which is supposedly one of the cornerstones of DAP when it embarked on the course more than 4 decades ago to speak truth to power and take a minority position even if the majority parliamentary position were otherwise. Don’t lose your moral compass that has got you thus far.
#5 by negarawan on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 3:22 pm
If he is another bribed katak, then why bother? He has openly expressed support for BN. DAP and PR must move on with the bigger agenda.
#6 by cintanegara on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 3:23 pm
Well done Tunku Aziz…..You have made a great decision….. No point staying in a party like DAP ..if they are sincere, they would have given you high position…..i.e Penang CM etc….everybody knows you are thousand times better than LGE…they say they are multi racial but everybody know la….Nisan Sunny cannot become Mercedes Benz though you put Mercedes emblem….
#7 by sheriff singh on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 5:05 pm
The Tunku is a loose cannon, a very, very loose cannon which the party can ill afford to have. Either he is a team player or he is not. You cannot have people like him do as he likes, when he likes and how he likes.
See how he acts first and then inform the party? This shows his contempt. He has gotten too big in the head for the party. He wants to show off how ‘independent’ and perhaps how powerful he is and that the party must allow him to roam as he likes.
This can be a liability especially when he does and say things that are against the party’s stand and cause it considerable embarrassment. How can the party allow its members do as they please? Can 11 football players in a team play according to their individual whims and fancies to the detriment of the team?
The Tunku can voice his opinion within the party and try to influence its policies. But what is collectively agreed should be respected and followed by all. That’s discipline. That would be the ethical thing to do.
If anyone feels strongly against something and cannot abide with the collective agreement, then he / she should quit as a matter of principle. You don’t go public and say you have an opposing view and won’t be responsible for the collective decision. That’s not an honourable thing to do. You are not being fair to the others.
See how the Japanese behave and conduct themselves?
Just what has the Tunku contributed to the party really? What has he spoken in Parliament on the various issues and Bills? Does he do and say things as he likes? He even praised the BN government and the authorities for their action on Bersih 3.0. Live on TV some more.
Perhaps the Tunku is not suitable as a politician although he may be good for other things. Maybe he was slighted within the party’s decision making process and was hurt and so did what he did. Maybe he was unhappy how the party’s and his vision just didn’t click and was frustrated as a result. I don’t know. Everything was so sudden and unexpected.
Whatever it is, he appears to have burnt his bridges. So please just let him go. Let it be an amicable divorce. And beware of other potential dissidents.
#8 by sheriff singh on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 5:16 pm
Doesn’t he look like the ‘Incredible Hulk’ ?
The Party may be big enough to accommodate diverse views. However, if every individual within it wants to do his / her own thing as per their ‘right’, then it will only invite chaos and will not be united and strong.
#9 by drngsc on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 5:20 pm
Hi LGE,
By all means speak to him to reconciliate. BUT do not try too hard or give up your position. DAP has done nothing wrong. There should be no prima donnas in any political parties.
By the way, I cannot decide whether he has succumb to RM 30M incentive ( the timing is surely suspicious ), or as a matter of principle. You can all decide. Trojan horses will become more and more common as GE 13 approaches.
Thank you Tungku. If you cannot take party discipline, then Fon Adieu.
We must change the tenant in Putrajaya. GE 13 is coming. This is the mother of all elections. BN will not go easy. But we must change them nonetheless.
Change we must. Change we can. Change we will.
#10 by cseng on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 5:33 pm
Tunku, as Senator, we expect you to speak for the rakyat, speak for the weaks.
BN as goverment, refuse to listen to anyone. The rakyat are asking 1 person 1 vote, 1 vote 1 value, they refused!, all avenues were duely exhausted! what else can we do?
Giving-in is no longer an option, power-that-be has long invaded the boundary limit of our democracy space. We witness how Suhakam were made powerless, AG’s reports were turned comic, how MSM were turn political media, how EC being a tool, why? Because goodmen do nothing, goodmen do not owned up courageous to differ with power-that-be and take trouble of correcting it.
Maybe your pass memory still haunting you, maybe you are what you were, we don’t know. If you can’t stand and speak for rakyat, you can meet our expectation, as Senator.
For us, 428 is a major milestone in our democracy process, goodmen de-triump evil on that day. We celebrated and cherished the born of courageous, standing up and be counted, untill evil fought back. We see courageous from the BAR, we expect to see some from the politically controlled MSM and PDRM, many goodmen there as well.
Tunku, if, bow out and give-in is alway your choice, then, be it.
#11 by Loh on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 6:22 pm
///The defence minister insists that the French courts have no jurisdiction to summon Malaysians to testify in the submarine inquiry.///–Malaysiakini
Malaysians expect the defense minister to say that it would testify in the submarine inquiry to prove that Malaysian government is clean. The statement by the minister only confirms that the government thinks that it has the right to do all the wrongs. So what Malaysia used the French company to pay to the cronies, the minister has left unsaid!
#12 by monsterball on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 6:42 pm
Cintanegara is trying very hard to insult Lim Guan Eng.
I wonder which idiot owns a Nisan Sunny putting an Mercedes emblem at the bonnet.
That itself tells you what kind of a faaarkk up brain he has.
He is afraid Tunku Aziz may change his mind.
It’s DAP private business and so many resigned from UMNO b to join PR parties…you never hear Cintanegara utter a word…how wise those people are…..leaving UMNO b.
I miss Cintanegera’s comments because he writes such idiotic stuffs making me laugh and a chance for me to faaaarkk him.
#13 by monsterball on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 6:50 pm
Back to the post….it is nice to see LGE try his best to convince Tunku Aziz to stay…but if he has made up his mind…..try not to convince too hard.
Tunku Aziz is old enough to know what is best for himself.
Just look at Zaid Ibrahim left and formed his party.
Who knows..Tunku Aziz may want to rejoin UMNO b back.
Let it be.
#14 by yhsiew on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 6:50 pm
Lim Guan Eng must mend the damage as soon as possible before BN capitalizes on the issue and blows it out of proportion.
#15 by monsterball on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 6:59 pm
What can BN do harm to DAP with Tunku Aziz resignation?
And what damage has LGE done to mend it?
Come 13th GE…I don’t think Tunku Aziz will stand for election neither can he pull voters in for PR or BN at all.
Let the matter rest…if Tunku still insist to resign….but it will be nice to see him accept LGE’s offer to stay.
#16 by Bigjoe on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 8:17 pm
Feel Tunku Aziz and LGE are talking AT each other not to each other. Seriously Tunku Aziz resigning over what really are small difference interpretation of civil disobedience makes absolutely no sense why they can’t intellectually discuss it. Tunku Aziz is talking about result of his view of civil disobedience while LGE is talking technicalities. Its simply ridiculous.
Even if Tunku view civil disobedience as always obeying the police – Bersih itself did not violate that – it was the idiocy of Azmin, Anwar and PKR Rasah that did. To resign over the matter when the party has not decided what to do about his dissent?
This whole thing looks like a story from the 3 stooges..
#17 by yhsiew on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 - 9:49 pm
MCA is accusing DAP of practicing sham democracy being unable to accommodate dissent.
#18 by waterfrontcoolie on Wednesday, 16 May 2012 - 12:02 am
MCA has lost all creditability in ALL sense of the word. Even now LLS had admitted that BN would not carry Penang or Selangor based on the clean image of both the State leadership! Instead of bombarding LGE, they did better clean up their image umtil then it is finisto!
#19 by sotong on Wednesday, 16 May 2012 - 9:10 am
Tunku is more than a senator.
#20 by Godfather on Wednesday, 16 May 2012 - 12:24 pm
I agree with those that say that we must move on without Tunku Aziz. There is no right and there is no wrong, but to prolong this sort of debate is just going to have BN controlled media cherry-pick the “appropriate” quotes from each party just to shoot down the DAP.
Tunku Aziz has made his intention very clear when he says that he believes in the transformation policies of Najib. Well, we all don’t, so don’t waste any more time engaging with the guy.
#21 by Godfather on Wednesday, 16 May 2012 - 12:25 pm
People like Cintarambutan come alive only when there is an opportunity for them to throw barbs. Most of the time they hibernate, so we shouldn’t give them the chance to throw their barbs.
#22 by Godfather on Wednesday, 16 May 2012 - 12:33 pm
When Kadir Sheikh Fadzir resigned from UMNO after saying that the party used money politics to buy votes, there was very little comment. Cintanegara didn’t climb down from his rambutan tree to make barbs at Kadir because his little brain told him not to blow up the story with the mainstream press already being instructed to ignore the story. UMNO had nothing to be gained, only downside.
Same issue here. Tunku has resigned and given the reasons why he resigned. Let’s not debate these reasons, and soon it will blow over.
#23 by sheriff singh on Wednesday, 16 May 2012 - 1:57 pm
Has anybody REALLY checked this Tunku’s background and track record?
A listing of the positions he has held means nothing more than their mere cold words. In actual fact he could have fumbled a lot, who knows?
Those who know the Tunku paint him as a very, very different man with many, many stories to tell. Still waters run deep, very deep, they say.
So let us all move on and wish him ‘Adiós Amigo’.
#24 by sheriff singh on Wednesday, 16 May 2012 - 2:03 pm
The man thinks he is too big and powerful to fall or be dropped.
When he was indeed dropped as Senator, he felt ‘insulted’ and is now going on a warpath for revenge and destruction.
Now we can all see another facet of his personality.
#25 by a g on Wednesday, 16 May 2012 - 5:25 pm
A certain wise guy once had this to say,
“You can see more clearly a man’s true personality when he is under extreme pressure or facing a personal crisis.”
In normal times I just put on a mask, do you not?
#26 by rockdaboat on Wednesday, 16 May 2012 - 10:41 pm
Ha ha ha, as expected many MCA “Chut Chai”, who are all bankrupt of ideas, have come out attacking DAP without knowing the truth behind the whole issue and showing their “concerns” for Tunku A Aziz!
These MCA “Chut Chais” should look themselves in the mirror before they speak. They only know how to talk bad about others when worse things happened in their backyard.
It is akin to them laughing at others for not wearing a shirt when they themselves are not wearing anything on the lower half of their bodies.
The world is watching and laughing at MCA!
#27 by rockdaboat on Wednesday, 16 May 2012 - 10:47 pm
“Nisan Sunny cannot become Mercedes Benz though you put Mercedes emblem.” by cintanegara
Well said cintanegara, indeed you know yourself well.
So don’t pretend to be smart, go back to tend to your rambutan tree.