The opposition has taken another potshot at Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir describing him as an armchair critic when it comes to squatters's housing problems.

Perak Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) accused him of not going to the ground to see to the pressing needs of these people the party describes as urban pioneers.

"H nep race relations forum 270107 dr jeyakumar ow can he (Zambry) sitting in his office issue press statements that he will address the urban pioneers's housing problems in his own way when he does not basically understand the ground realities of these people," said an angry PSM Sungai Siput MP Dr D Jeyakumar ( right ).

"It is easy for politicians to be armchair critics sitting in their ivory towers without any knowledge of the historical background and the hardships faced by these urban pioneers," the cardiologist told Malaysiakini today.

On Thursday, Zambry had stated that there are people (without mentioning PSM by name) who go around urging the squatters to demonstrate and carry banners in the streets.

The Pangkor assemblyperson had likened that to a political drama (by PSM) in Tamil movies to win publicity and at the end of the day they return home without achieving anything.

The menteri besar had said this at a press conference at the State Secretariat after handing out land offer letters to 44 squatter families from Kampung Sungai Buloh in Sungai Siput.

Street demos last resort

Jeyakumar explained that PSM is a socialist party formed to fight social injustice and look after the welfare of the downtrodden and the marginalised left behind in economic development of the country.

"Our aim is to inform and educate such people on their legal and basic rights as citizens and to use all legal avenues available to rectify such shortcomings," the party central committee member said.

NONE Taking to the streets is the last resort for the party when government departments remain closed to the genuine grouses and needs of these people, he said.

"The state BN government controls the main media and calls all the shots in the administration of the state and as such we have no other avenue or platform to inform society of these people's plight.

"So, by taking to the streets, we hope to attract media attention for the state government to take the necessary action to solve such problems," he added.

He said these low-income people always turn to PSM whenever the BN government ignores their legal and basic rights.

When asked about PSM quietly doing most of the groundwork for years to solve the state's squatter problems, only to see BN grab the limelight at the final stage, Jeyakumar replied, "our party philosophy is that our objective has been met irrespective of whether the BN or PSM gets the credit.

"So it does not matter if they (BN) get the credit as the affected people are fully aware of our contributions to their solutions."