PERIKATAN Nasional (PN) looks uninterested in acting as an effective opposition and therefore there is no basis for Bersatu information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan’s remarks that the current government is pressuring PN to break the check and balance mechanism.
Such was the comment of Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung to Wan Saiful’s statement yesterday (March 9), whereby the latter had also described Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as a vengeful leader who rules with an iron fist.
“It is clear that the statement about the current government is only aiming to disable PN so that there is no check and balance is completely inaccurate,” Lee said in a statement on his Facebook.
He pointed out that the government has made various attempts to bolster the check and balance mechanism, such as empowering the Dewan Rakyat, abolishing open tenders, and making preparations to table legislation such as the Government Procurement Act and the Political Funding Act.
Lee also claimed that the PN lawmakers do not seem to have any interest in forming an effective opposition.
He claimed that they make inconsistent claims and then apologise in Parliament, and that their attendance record is quite low despite the PM’s appearance in the Dewan Rakyat to answer lawmakers’ inquiries.
The opposition has also failed to put forward an alternative budget to prove that they are a bloc capable of offering alternative policies to the rakyat, Lee added.
Lee further stated that he finds it peculiar that Wan Saiful failed to describe his former ‘boss’ Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the same way that he did to Anwar.
“Instead, these emotional words were thrown against Anwar only after he (Wan Saiful) was charged with two counts of soliciting and receiving bribes amounting to RM6.9 mil involving the Jana Wibawa project worth RM232 mil last year,” Lee said.
“Since Wan Saiful has resigned from his position as Bersatu information chief, I hope that the new Bersatu information chief (Datuk Razali Idris) will not use the opposition’s name again to defend himself in an event of corruption or malpractice.” — March 10, 2023
Main photo credit: Utusan Malaysia