Unburdened Loke swings at MCA, urges voters to deny BN return to the old days

MALACCA POLLS | No longer saddled with the responsibility of maintaining cabinet harmony, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke has taken aim at BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and MCA president Wee Ka Siong, challenging voters to reject a return to the coalition's rule.

Loke (above), whose resignation as transport minister took effect yesterday following the transfer of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak to house arrest, was responding to Zahid's reminder that he had vowed to step down once Najib returned home.

"I want to tell Zahid, this is the secretary-general of DAP, not the president of MCA. This is Anthony Loke, not Wee Ka Siong.

"I have stated that I will resign - I will resign," he roared at a ceramah in Batu Berendam, Malacca last night.

He added that DAP respected the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's constitutional power to grant pardons, but maintained that the party had its own position on Najib's house arrest.

Loke's resignation was first offered following a DAP central executive committee (CEC) meeting on Sept 19, which decided that he would leave the cabinet to reflect the party's opposition to Najib serving the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.

He subsequently submitted his resignation letter to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Sept 28, but agreed to remain in office temporarily at the latter's request.

The following day, Loke said he had set a clear timeframe for his departure, insisting that his resignation would take effect on the day Najib returned home.

Najib arrived at his Kuala Lumpur residence last night following a Kuala Lumpur High Court order paving the way for his transfer from Kajang Prison.

Under the order, Najib, 73, will serve the remainder of his reduced six-year sentence in the SRC International case under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028. He must then return to Kajang Prison on Aug 24, 2028, to serve his separate sentence in the 1MDB case.

Making threats, but not following through

Striking a noticeably more fiery tone than usual, Loke took a pointed jab at MCA by suggesting that the party's leaders were accustomed to making threats without following through on them.

He cited Wee's repeated warnings that MCA would take firm action after BN's decision to negotiate seat allocations for the Malacca state election without his knowledge, and the announcement of candidates without consulting him.

However, Loke pointed out that MCA eventually accepted BN's arrangement, which saw it contest two seats it had previously held along with two additional seats.

"This is the nature of the MCA. They have no principles and lack the courage to take action," Loke claimed.

In contrast, he said DAP and Harapan were prepared to stand by their words and principles, even when doing so came at a political cost.

READ MORE: Malacca polls: MCA gets Kota Laksamana after PN hands seat back to BN

Loke further urged Malacca voters to remember the public anger over corruption and the 1MDB scandal that drove BN's defeat in the 2018 general election.

"We have never forgotten the struggle for the people. We know that when we formed the government in 2018, we brought down BN and a corrupt government because of the 1MDB scandal, as the people rose to reject kleptocracy and corruption," he said.

"That was why we succeeded in forming the government in Putrajaya and also Malacca in 2018. We have never forgotten that the people hoped to see a clean government."

He called on voters to support Harapan's candidates in Saturday's polls, framing the election as an opportunity to defend the principles that had catalysed BN's fall.

READ MORE: Malacca polls: BN-PN banks on delivery, Bersama vows reform, Harapan talks aspirations

Despite heavy rain, approximately 300 people attended the ceramah, which featured speeches by Deputy Higher Education Minister Adam Adli Abdul Halim, Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh, and Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Steven Sim, among others.

Also sighted were DAP's Seputeh MP Teresa Kok and Deputy Finance Minister Liew Chin Tong.

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