Kit Siang: Ex-Umno members can join PH but must admit mistakes
ISKANDAR PUTERI: DAP will consider granting membership to Umno parliamentarians who repent and admit their mistakes, said party adviser Lim Kit Siang.
He said Umno members of parliament who wanted to join DAP must be ready to be investigated by the authorities and face jail time if found guilty.
“These (MPs) supported Najib, 1Malaysia Development Bhd and kleptocracy,” he said in reference to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the 1MDB scandal.
“They should repent, admit they are wrong and support Pakatan Harapan’s agenda to create a clean government.
“If they were involved in corruption and abuse of power, they must face the law. If they are found guilty, they have to go to prison,” he said at Dewan Kampung Simpang Arang here yesterday.
Lim, who is Iskandar Puteri member of parliament, said there was no way to prevent elected representatives from switching sides as there was no law against it.
“In the 1970s, I submitted a private member’s bill calling for MPs to vacate their seats and for byelections to be held if they are expelled (from their party) or switch parties.
“We don’t have such a law in Malaysia but it is practised in other countries.”
He said voters should have the right to elect new representatives if their incumbents switched parties.
On the exodus of Umno leaders, Lim said they must repent before they were allowed to join PH.
On calls by Umno members for party president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to step down, Lim said Umno members were not addressing the country’s most pressing issues, the 1MDB scandal and Najib’s alleged wrongdoings.
“Democracy requires a strong opposition but after the recent Dewan Rakyat sittings, not a single opposition MP raised the issue of 1MDB and Najib.
“Whether Zahid relinquishes his post or not is secondary. The issue is whether the opposition is brave enough to talk about what is best for the country.
“To be strong, the opposition must take a stand and be brave enough to say that Najib turned Malaysia into a global kleptocracy.”
In George Town, PKR secretarygeneral Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said opposition MPs crossing over to PH will boost the ruling party.
He said they could give PH a two-thirds majority in Parliament to implement new policies.
He said this after attending the “I Love Penang” charity cycling event at SK Bayan Baru yesterday.
He was responding to speculation that Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia was accepting former Umno MPs to strengthen its position in PH.
He rejected this speculation, saying PH parties worked well together and respected each other.
“From my experience in the Presidential Council, this is how it is since we formed the government seven months ago.”
Asked if PKR had discussed the matter, Saifuddin said the PH Presidential Council discussed the matter in-depth within the first week of forming the government.
He claimed that PH had been expecting opposition MPs to jump ship and agreed on three resolutions before they could be accepted.
First, he said, the opposition MPs must declare that they had left their party.
Second, there should be a certain gap before they applied to join one of the PH parties.
“It can be a day, a week or a few months. We did not decide how long the gap is. The third resolution is that tainted figures will not be accepted.”
In Shah Alam, Klang MP Charles Santiago said the departure of Sabah Umno MPs and assemblymen from the party and their possible entry into PH had nothing to do with loss of confidence in Umno’s leadership.
He described their action as a way to evade arrest should there be an act of misappropriation.
“It is not due to loss of confidence in leadership or irreconcilable differences.
“It is out of fear and the need to ensure one doesn’t get nabbed by the graft-busters for corruption and abuse of power. Backdoor deals to remain relevant in politics and to stay out of prison are unacceptable.”