Pua: Umno leaders have diluted Najib's apology

Despite Najib Abdul Razak’s public apology for past BN mistakes ahead of a general election, other Umno leaders have been quick to contain its impact, making this an 'unapologetic apology', according to a DAP leader.

            

In a statement, DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua (left) singled out statements by BN deputy head Muhyiddin Yassin and Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan, and questioned their motives for clearly contradicting the apology.

"Why are Umno leaders falling over themselves to make light of Najib's apology?" asked Pua, also the Petaling Jaya Utara MP.

On Saturday, national news agency Bernama reported that Najib - who heads the BN, Umno and the government - had made the momentous apology to all Malaysians, "on behalf of the BN for the coalition's mistakes in the last general election, which cost it several electoral seats and states, including Kedah".

A day later, observed Pua, Muhyiddin had tried to make light of the apology by boasting about the federal ruling coalition’s achievements in recent decades.

He had claimed that, "…during the 54-year period, no one can deny the fact, despite the weaknesses, we have made huge progress in the fields of socio-economy, culture, education, international relations and various others".

Pua noted that Muhyiddin (right) wanted to avoid the subject by adding that "there is no need to list our weaknesses; that is in the past".

He pointed out that Ahmad, on the same day, was even more dismissive of Najib's apology, urging Malaysians "to provide BN the mandate to rule following the promise by Najib that the coalition will fix its past mistakes".

These statements, said Pua, have single-handedly destroyed any goodwill which may have arisen out of Najib’s apology.

"It demonstrates that the BN remains as arrogant and as dismissive of Malaysian criticism as ever, and any chance of change will not happen if BN were to remain in power.

 

"Muhyiddin made light of the need to list BN’s weakness because (these were) in the past and not (in the) present.  Ahmad ... claimed that, without returning BN’s two-thirds majority in Parliament, the coalition (would be) unable to fix its mistakes," he said.

Pua sees the contradictory statements as proof that the Umno top leadership is in utter disarray and is panicking in the face of upcoming general polls, due by March next year.

"While not wanting to contradict the prime minister directly over the apology ..., Umno leaders appear to be scrambling to contain its impact by making irrelevant the apology."    

'No attempt to correct mistakes'

Nonetheless, all Umno leaders including Najib, have missed the point that the apology is completely useless and lacks any semblance of credibility if it is not matched with deeds, Pua stressed.

"In fact it is rather late for Najib to be apologising for the 'past mistakes' prior to 2008, when he should be apologising for not being able to correct these mistakes despite having been the prime minister for the past three years!"

He then listed the ‘failures’ under Najib administration including Malaysia’s drop in the  Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index from 56th to 60th slot, and alleged abuse of the RM250 million government soft loan for the National Feedlot Corporation project.

"On top of that, Najib is perpetuating patronage and cronyism in his administration by awarding mega-projects and concessions without any competitive tenders to well-known associates of the BN government - such as the 60-year RM7.1 billion West Coast Expressway project.  

"The government has also in the past year awarded many mega-contracts to entities related to Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary - the RM7.55 billion contract to DRB Hicom to supply 257 armoured personnel carriers; the new 1,000 megawatt coal-powered plant concession to Malakoff Bhd; and the appointment of MMC-Gamuda as the project development partner of the RM53 billion Klang Valley MRT project.”

In terms of inter-faith and inter-racial relations, conditions have worsened under Najib's premiership, Pua claimed.

"(This includes) the government's obstinate insistence on banning the use of the term 'Allah' by Christians, while both the prime minister and his wife continue to lend support and give legitimacy to the right-wing Perkasa to fan racist sentiments and encourage violent behaviour."

Pua said he believes that Umno's most unapologetic 'apology' will not change how the people perceive the BN especially since its leaders are not even willing to acknowledge faults in the system.

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