MCA should stop trying to teach Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim how to do his job, said a DAP leader.
DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook stressed that a Cabinet reshuffle is solely up to Anwar, and this should be respected.
“I think we shouldn’t poke our nose around and try to tell the Prime Minister what he should do,” Loke was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini after attending a lantern festival event at Telemong, Bentong last night (Oct 4).
“Even if there will be a Cabinet reshuffle, it is the prime minister’s prerogative. But up until today, the Prime Minister has not said anything about this. Even in today’s (Oct 4) Cabinet meeting, he did not mention anything about it,” the Seremban MP said.
Loke said this in response to MCA spokesperson Mike Chong Yew Chuan’s statement on Tuesday (Oct 3) where the latter said MCA had proposed three recommendations to Anwar in order for the unity government to “yield better results”.
Chong had suggested that Anwar must stop serving concurrently as Finance Minister and that Anwar needs to appoint a new Finance Minister or appoint a second Finance Minister.
Chong further said Anwar should remove Cabinet ministers whose performances fall “below standards”, among them Economy Ministry Rafizi Ramli and Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu.
Meanwhile, Loke denied claims that the Chinese voters, especially around Telemong and Kampung Baru, will not vote in the Pelangai state election this Saturday (Oct 7).
“DAP machinery had been working hard to ensure that voters fulfilled their responsibilities thus guaranteeing the victory of Barisan Nasional (BN),” the Chennah assemblyman was reported as saying by Harian Metro yesterday (Oct 4).
“This Saturday (October 7), we (DAP) will ensure that the votes we have, we will transfer them to BN. With this formula I am confident that we will help BN win with a comfortable majority.”
Loke went on to say that in order to assure the formula’s success, he had urged DAP Pahang from the start to campaign vigorously to support BN in terms of morale, resources, and manpower.
“The formula of shifting the Chinese voters and DAP supporters to BN has already been proven to be successful in helping BN win in the Tioman state election last year.”
In 15th General Election (GE15), voting for the Tioman state election could not take place on voting day on Nov 19, 2022 following the death of Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Md Yunus Ramli in the early hours of the same morning, causing it to be rescheduled for Dec 7 of the same year.
Loke admitted that the biggest challenge at the moment is to ensure that voters in Pelangai DUN who do not live here return to fulfill their responsibilities this Saturday (Oct 4).
In GE15, Pelangai incumbent assemblyman Datuk Seri Johari Harun of BN won with a majority of 4,048 votes, defeating PN candidate Kasim Samat who obtained 3,260 votes, while the Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Ahmed Wafiuddin Shamsuri received 2,031 votes and Pejuang candidate, Isa Ahmad received 65 votes.
The Pelangai by-election was held following the death of Johari, 53, who was one of the 10 victims of a plane crash in Shah Alam, Selangor on the evening of Aug 17, with a three-way contest for the state seat between BN candidate Datuk Amizar Abu Adam, PN candidate Kasim and independent candidate Haslihelmy DM Zulhasni. – Oct 5, 2023
Main pic credit: The Straits Times
