Calls for Pakatan to reject defectors
PETALING JAYA: Various quarters have come out to condemn the practice of party “crossovers” by elected representatives as it would see an erosion of confidence among voters following the outcome of GE14.
Former Umno minister Tan Sri Rais Yatim said Pakatan Harapan should not accept defectors from Barisan Nasional, adding that those who defected could bring with them the ill-habits.
“If PH accepts into its fold everyone who feels pushed into a corner, then it would create BN2.0 with all its destructive behaviour. All the struggles so far would have been for nothing,” he said in a Twitter post on Saturday.
Rais also defended PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli, who came under fire for criticising Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad following the announcement of the Cabinet line-up on Saturday.
“Rafizi has sacrificed a lot. Do not take his comments lightly,” he added.
In a statement on Saturday, Rafizi questioned why no PKR members were present at the meeting to finalise the Cabinet line-up.
Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh echoed similar sentiments on defectors, believing accepting party hoppers from BN would see an erosion of confidence among PH voters as they voted for change.
“The true reform which PH needs to embark on in its quest to save Malaysia must necessarily exclude such BN representatives as they were the very ones who condoned the regime under former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
“Such BN representatives were complicit in the mismanagement of the country under BN which is precisely why reforms are urgently needed now,” he said in a statement.
The PH lawmaker added that the government should emulate the antihopping stance taken by the Penang state government when it introduced the country’s first anti-hopping law in 2012.
Ramkarpal said the country must be cleansed of the scourge of six decades of BN rule and that it was imperative for BN to be completely rejected to achieve this aim.
Klang MP Charles Satiago stressed that accepting defectors betrays the rakyat.
“On May 9, the rakyat did not just reject BN but also the corruption, greed for power, money politics and deeply-sown injustice that’s intrinsic in their style of governance.
“As such, even deliberating to accept those who have shown interest to join PH is an act of betrayal,” he said.
He also pointed out that the alleged meeting between Mahathir and Sarawak Governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud must be stopped immediately.