'Gerakan, MCA would give CM's post on a silver platter'

If Umno demands the post of Penang chief minister, Gerakan and MCA would hand it over to them on a silver platter, so says the DAP.

DAP Youth vice chief Ng Wei Aik ( right ) said that Umno’s intentions are clear - that they do want the chief minister’s post after all - despite the party denying that it wanted it.

Umno wants to have the CM’s and Menteri Besar’s post in all the states in Malaysia and once it captures the post, they will never give it back to any of their fellow BN component parties, added Ng.

“Sabah is a good example. After their so-called ‘CM rotation’ drive, the rotation ended with Umno ruling and no other party has ruled Sabah since,” said the Komtar assemblyperson.

“If questioned, they will once again use racial and religious issues to justify their corrupt rule,” added Ng, who is also political secretary to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Ng was referring to Umno-owned Malay language daily Utusan Malaysia’s article entitled ‘Anwar the Renaissance Man, PAS plastik dan P Pinang milik Umno’ published yesterday.

Zaini Hassan in his column said that the key for the BN to regain Penang in the next general election is for it to promise to place an Umno member as the next chief minister .

Zaini also said that the Penang’s chief ministers post is a rotating position, that it must be returned to Umno, and that Umno had won all the seats for BN in the state legislative assembly.

Although Umno was the sole winner in the 2008 general election with 11 representatives, Pakatan holds 39 seats.

There has never been a rotating position for the Penang chief minister’s post. It has always been held by a Gerakan candidate, while Umno had never held the post.

Ng said the article clearly shows that Umno intends to take over the post and Gerakan will have no say whatsoever on the matter.

‘Goal to attain power by hook or by crook’

He added that Umno’s goal in winning elections is no longer to serve the people but to attain power by “hook or by crook”.

“Whenever Umno is challenged, they will run towards race and religion and vilify everyone except themselves,” he said.

“They don’t mind insulting their own fellow component parties in BN to achieve their goals,” he added.

Ng said if Malaysia was losing out to its neighbouring countries, it was because the country is being mismanaged.

If Pakatan Rakyat can achieve within three years what BN was unable to do in 54 years, then it is rather obvious that BN is not fit to govern, he added.

“Unfortunately, when BN can’t compete with Pakatan on a policy-based debate, they will say how Umno represent Malays,” he said.

“(They will say) since the Malays are native to Malaysia, they should rule without question! Whether they do a good job or not is irrelevant to Umno,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ng said if Gerakan and MCA merely remain silent on the matter, it would prove that they are nothing but “servants to their master, Umno”.

He added that the two component parties in BN claimed they were equal partners yet when Umno criticises the non-Malays, they keep quiet.

Ng urged Penangites to reject Umno and other BN component parties, saying the former was “greedy for power and absolute monopoly” without respect for democracy.

He added that Umno intended to turn Malaysia into a one-party state by slowly amending the constitution.

“They don’t mind destroying the country as long as their leaders are wealthy. They claim to protect the Malays yet they plunder Malaysia until the country is so severely in debt today,” he stressed.