'Some Pakatan leaders wanted Ku Li as PM'
Some leaders in Pakatan Rakyat were prepared to accept Umno's Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as prime minister, PKR's former deputy president Syed Husin Ali has revealed.
Some leaders in Pakatan Rakyat were prepared to accept Umno's Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as prime minister, PKR's former deputy president Syed Husin Ali has revealed.
This was suggested on the condition that Tengku Razaleigh - widely known as Ku Li - could convince 15 to 20 MPs to crossover in opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's Sept 16, 2008, attempt to topple the BN government, the veteran politician says in his Memoir Perjuangan Politik .
"Pada masa sama diberitakan bahawa Tengku Razaleigh mungkin turut serta bersama empat orang pengikutnya. Akan tetapi khabarnya beliau mengenakan syarat agar dicalonkan sebagai perdana menteri.
"Beberapa orang pemimpin Pakatan secara tidak rasmi dalam perbualan mereka menyatakan syarat itu boleh diterima sekiranya Tengku itu boleh membawa 15-20 orang ahli Parlimen lain bersamanya."
(At the same time, it was said that Tengku Razaleigh may join [in the crossover] along with four of his followers. But it was said that he had set the condition that he would be appointed prime minister. Several Pakatan leaders unofficially in their conversations said the condition could be accepted if the Tengku can bring 15-20 other members of parliament with him.)
According to Syed Husin in his book, this was essential as most of the MPs who had agreed to crossover were non-Muslim bumiputeras and Pakatan wanted Umno defectors to maintain a balance, to ensure that its Malay-Muslim support does not erode.
The memoir was launched by the Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim last night.
Maintaining that the Sept 16 promise was real, he says that after Umno found out about the plan, it whisked most of the Umno MPs to Taiwan, and later some to Macau and New York, to avert any crossover.
"(BN) then announced allocations of about RM3 billion for development projects in Sabah and Sarawak.
"This obviously provided contract opportunities to crony companies and contractors linked to MPs who are also Umno and BN leaders in the two states," he writes.
The book, described by PKR vice-president Tian Chua as a honest and plain description of Syed Husin's political experiences, without regret or condemnation, was launched in the presence of a high powered audience of some 500 people in Shah Alam.
"Syed Husin is a bridge between the pre-Merdeka and post-Merdeka generations," declared Tian Chua.
Attempt on Husin's life
Opening a window to Husin's long history which included heading the country's oldest party, the Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM), was a comrade of his generation and the then-PRM secretary-general Sanusi Osman.
Recounting Husin's long struggle from his undergraduate days till he brought PRM into Parti Keadilan Nasional's (PKN) fold to form PKR, Sanusi revealed there was once an attempt on Husin's life.
"One night in Kelantan after he finished giving a talk, he was given a lift on a motorcycle, a car then rammed them and they were dragged for a distance... Husin said this was all planned, if you read the book you'll know in detail,"he said.
Also present was national laureate A Samad Said who candidly recounted his days as a Berita Harian editor including his recollection of the paper running a short story contest as a front for a 'welfare fund'.
"The contest was not meant for rewarding literature, it was meant to help those in need, we chose people who needed the money.
"Which was why Syed Husin won thrice and got RM300," he quipped.
Noting the Selangor government had backed the book launch, Anwar said it was to promote a culture of intellectualism.
"Let it be an effort to uphold knowledge and to kindle the tradition of knowledge and a culture of reading among political activists.
"This sets PKR and Pakatan Rakyat apart from the current political tradition."
Speaking for himself, Husin said his generation had faced much difficulties in their political activism from logistical and technological limitations then.
"I'm not saying that we should do as they did, times have changed, but what is important is that we emulate their spirit of sacrifice."
He also warned party members that if Pakatan Rakyat were to capture Putrajaya, it must be prepared to make sacrifices.
"Not when two bags of cash is presented you take it and quit the party and start bashing our leaders."
The 292-page book, entitled 'Memoir Perjuangan Politik Syed Husin Ali' consists of nine chapters and touches on several controversial issues of the past and present, including the formation of the PKR and Senator Mohd Ezam Noor abandoning the party.
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