AN UMNO leader has scoffed at a PKR MP for urging the Pakatan Harapan component to exercise caution in accepting high-profile leaders from other parties and saying that PKR needs to maintain its “clean” image.
Taking to Facebook, Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi said there was no need for Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim to boast about the party not being a “rubbish bin”, saying that PKR had a “track record” of using “the ends to justify the means”.
“When PKR accepted Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the seventh prime minister, was PKR a rubbish bin?” asked the UMNO Supreme Council member.
“Here’s an easy question for Hassan Karim. Would he oppose if (MUDA’s) Syed Saddiq (Syed Abdul Rahman) and Bersatu’s (Datuk Seri) Hamzah (Zainudin) had applied to join PKR?”
Puad was responding to Hassan’s remarks on Thursday (March 14) urging PKR to exercise caution in accepting high-profile leaders from other parties.
Hassan, who was speaking to FMT, had said it is “necessary, reasonable and responsible” for checks to be conducted on senior leaders of other parties who intend to join the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim-led party.
He also said that PKR needs to maintain its clean image as a party that champions reforms and that those who are “parasitic, opportunistic, thieves, deceivers and corrupt” must be rejected from the get-go.
On this matter, Puad said Hassan should not forget that “seekor kerbau membawa lumpur semuanya terpalit” (translation: one bad apple spoils the barrel).
Having said that, Puad said Hassan should explain his basis for claiming that PKR was a “clean” party.
“The people are the ones who are qualified to make that assessment, not him (Hassan) or (PKR deputy president) Rafizi Ramli,” he added. – March 15, 2024
Main pic credit: Sumber Kini
