Pakatan Rakyat Row Hots Up: Clam up, don't bicker in public, says Syed Husin

BERNAMA


Parti Keadilan Rakyat deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali says parties should settle differences internally

KUALA LUMPUR: Please shut up. This is the appeal of Parti Keadilan Rakyat deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali to leaders in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition pact.

"I wish to urge and plead with the various parties in Pakatan (Rakyat) to stop taking their differences and conflicts to the media, especially the BN-controlled ones.

"This includes not only the Selangor MB (Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim) and the Kapar MP (S. Manikavasagam) but also the Selangor speaker (DAP's Teng Chang Khim) and the Klang MP (DAP's Charles Santiago)," he said in a statement here yesterday. Besides PKR, the other members of PR are the DAP and Pas.

Manikavasagam announced on Friday that he would quit PKR, saying he was dissatisfied with Khalid and the way the menteri besar ran the affairs of the state.

Khalid hit back on Sunday, saying that Manikavasagam was free to resign. He said he was also not interested in meeting the MP or asking him to reconsider his decision to quit.
Santiago challenged Teng to prove that he had been bought over by the BN and was behaving like an opposition leader.

"They should sit down, discuss and settle their differences and conflicts internally. There are various existing channels and procedures to do so," said Syed Husin of the war of words among PR elected representatives.

He said that in the absence of PKR president Datyk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail and adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who are away until Jan 6, he would call a meeting of the political bureaus on Wednesday to discuss the main and related issues "in order to find a suitable solution".

"The issue of the Kapar MP's threat to leave PKR has been blown out of proportion by certain BN-controlled media.

"They have distorted statements by some Pakatan (Rakyat) leaders in order to portray as if the opposition alliance is in disarray.

"Obviously, their intention is to draw public attention away from the series of crises in the BN and also within major components of the government coalition, in view of the upcoming Kuala Terengganu by-election," he added. -- Bernama