(Petaling Jaya, Tuesday): Gerakan President and Minister for Primary Industries, Datuk Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik should substantiate or withdraw and apologise the baseless remarks he made about me when he was in Ayer Tawar two days ago, or he would be undermining not only his own credibility but the entire Cabinet at this period of national economic crisis.
The spectacle of Cabinet Ministers going round the country making baseless and careless statements cannot enhance confidence-restoration.
In Ayer Tawar on Saturday, when Keng Yaik accused me of "trying to divert the people's attention to politics" when I broached the possibility of snap election coming up within the next six months, the Gerakan President also accused me of "suddenly emerging from my two-year silence" to "fish in troubled waters to get political mileage" through my many speeches and statements on the economic crisis.
Keng Yaik should substantiate his statement that I had "suddenly emerged from my two-year silence" to make a lot of speeches and statements to justify his allegation that I wanted to "fish in troubled waters to get political mileage" and if he cannot do so, he should have the humility to withdraw his baseless remark and apologise.
If Cabinet Ministers go around the country to make baseless and reckless statements, it is no wonder that the credibility of Cabinet Ministers in Malaysia are at an all-time low, to the extent that the establishment of the National Economic Action Council (NEAC) to usurp the powers of the Cabinet has not created much public outcry because of public disappointment about the performance of Cabinet Ministers.
This is one reason why I had proposed to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad that it is long overdue to have a major Cabinet reshuffle to remove the deadwoods in the Cabinet and bring in new blood, new faces, new thinking and new mind-sets to better lead the country to tide through the national economic crisis as well as face the new challenges of the 21st century.
(20/1/98)