Gerakan leaders Kerk Choo Ting and Koh Tsu Koon should explain their role in helping UMNO Youth to force Suqiu Committee to compromise on seven of its 83-point election appeals with threats of a non-existing "racially tense situation"

(Penang, Sunday): On Friday, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad created  political shock-waves  in Sik when he said  that although the Suqiu Committee had "dropped" seven of its 83-point election appeals,  the government was studying the implications of the remaining 76  points to see if there would be another round of discussions with Suqiu "if there is anything that can affect national peace and well-being…so that they will not be raised again".

Who are the  Barisan Nasional leaders involved in the study of the remaining 76 points of the Suqiu election appeals to consider whether they should be "put aside", "dropped" or "withdrawn"? Does it include any MCA leader whose President, Datuk Seri Dr. Ling Liong Sik had said that only one of two points or 2 per cent of the 83-point election appeals are "questionable"? Is  any  Gerakan leader involved like Kerk Choo Ting, the Gerakan Deputy President, and Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, the Penang Chief Minister, who had been accused of misusing and abusing their "mediator" role and helped UMNO Youth with threats of a  non-existing "racially tense situation" prevailing in the country to force Suqiu Committee to compromise on seven of its 83-point election appeals?

A day after the highly controversial UMNO  Youth-Suqiu Committee Joint Statement of January 5, 2001, with both sides subsequently disagreeing as to what they had actually agreed upon - with UMNO Youth leader Datuk Hishammudin Tun Hussein on the one hand claiming that Suqiu Committee had "withdrawn" the seven points  but which is disputed by Suqiu officials - Kerk had boasted to the Chinese media of his role and prowess in successfully chairing the series of UMNO Youth-Suqiu Committee secret negotiations.

What is very surprising is that neither Kerk nor any other Gerakan leader involved in the UMNO Youth-Suqiu Committee secret negotiations had responded to the very serious allegations in the media that they had abused their "mediator" role and played  "a major role in Suqiu’s capitulation" to UMNO Youth.

Malaysiakini, in its report of 17th January 2001, quoting "reliable sources" said that Suqiu was relegated to a subordinate position in the  final leg of the negotiations with Umno Youth.

Malaysiakini reported:
 

"On Dec 24, Gerakan deputy president Kerk Choo Ting and Penang  Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon called Suqiu for a meeting to discuss  Umno Youth’s bid to resolve the controversy involving the ‘sensitive’ points in the Chinese lobby group’s 17-point election appeals.
 
"At the same time, Hishammuddin telephoned one of the Suqiu's leaders, urging him to begin the negotiation as they were running out of time and  that the matter was ‘urgent’.
 
"After all, a student body closely linked to Umno, the Federation of  Peninsular Malay Students (GPMS), had threatened to unleash a series  of anti-Suqiu rallies beginning Jan 6 in Kuala Terengganu. (As events  transpired later, the Kuala Terengganu rally was the only one held.)
 
"According to a source, Suqiu drafted a proposed settlement with Umno  Youth with the ‘help’ of Koh during its first meeting with Gerakan on Dec 26.
 
"The draft was immediately sent to Umno Youth. The next day, Umno Youth sent back a counter proposal, which specifically spelt out the seven points to be retracted. It also asked for an apology from Suqiu  for raising the ‘sensitive’ points.
 
 "Suqiu rejected Umno Youth's proposal. An apology would have contradicted its stand…
 
 "In its second meeting with Gerakan on Dec 27, Suqiu nevertheless agreed to incorporate the seven points, deemed to be contentious, in its draft.
 
"It was then agreed that the negotiations with Umno Youth would be coordinated by Gerakan and the framework for the negotiations would involve both parties expressing their respective stands and their points of agreement in a joint statement.
 
 "’After the Gerakan meeting, the negotiations came under the control of
 Gerakan and Umno Youth,’ said a source.
 
 "It was learnt that Gerakan had also indicated that they did not want two key Suqiu representatives, seen as hardliners, to be part of the  Suqiu-UmnoYouth negotiations.
 
 "That suggestion was discussed at a subsequent Suqiu meeting and it  resolved to reject Gerakan’s proposal to exclude the two  representatives.
 
 "The Umno Youth-Suqiu meetings were chaired by Gerakan’s Kerk, a  former Chinese educationist, alternating with Koh.
 
 "’In the first round of negotiations, Kerk showed he was not an  independent mediator. Suqiu thought it should not have let him chair the meeting at all,’ a source said.
 
"Indeed, Suqiu perceived Kerk to have exercised too much influence.
 
 "’In the negotiation process, Kerk helped (Umno Youth) put pressure on  Suqiu. He said the controversy might trigger off a tense situation, and  Suqiu would have to bear the responsibility,’ the source said.
 
 "At an internal meeting on Jan 1, Suqiu resolved that Kerk should cease
 from chairing the negotiations.
 
 "However, in its following meeting with Umno Youth, the negotiations lasted for over eight hours. With everyone too tired and stressed out,  the Suqiu representatives did not press for Kerk to quit.
 
 "’Kerk carries the major responsibility of nudging Suqiu to ‘put aside'  the seven sub-points,’ said the source.
 
"Before the final negotiations, Kerk called Suqiu leaders to impress on  them that the situation was getting worse."

"The source stated that Gerakan kept emphasising that Suqiu must settle  the issue in the negotiations or face negative consequences. In  addition, Koh kept reminding Suqiu that Umno Youth was pressed for  time.
 
"Various sources confirmed that during the negotiations Umno Youth  reiterated, time and again, that they were liberal and moderate compared with the more extremist GPMS.
 
 "Suqiu representatives were told that if they did not support the forces of  moderation, racial tension would result."

• Whether Suqiu Committee had "dropped", "withdrawn" or "retracted"  seven of its 83-point election appeals as having "touched on the special position and rights of the Bumiputeras", as claimed by the UMNO Youth leader but denied by  the Suqiu Committee leaders.
• Whether  Mahathir’s perception that Suqiu Committee had admitted that it had "misunderstood and promised not to raise again" the special position of the Malays and the status of Islam as the official religion of the country is the right and proper one - and if not, why the Prime Minister has such a misperception.
• Why they had helped  UMNO Youth with threats of a non-existing "racially tense situation" prevailing in the country to force Suqiu Committee to compromise on seven of its 83-point election appeals?
• Their stand on the announcement by the Prime Minister that the government is studying the implications of the remaining 76  points to see if there would be another round of discussions with Suqiu "if there is anything that can affect national peace and well-being…so that they will not be raised again" - and why Gerakan had agreed to such a study after its "mediation" role in the UMNO Youth-Suqiu Committee secret negotiations.