SUPP President Sim Kui Hian failed big time although he is treated like a “conquering hero” to save MCA, Gerakan and even UMNO in the two by-elections in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar

SUPP President, Senator Sim Kui Hian failed big time although he is treated like a “conquering hero” to save MCA, Gerakan and even UMNO in the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar parliamentary by-elections on Saturday.

This is the first time in 43-year Barisan Nasional history that the SUPP President is regarded like a “saviour” to MCA and Gerakan which had fallen on “bad times”, as the SUPP President had always been regarded by the MCA and Gerakan as a “little brother” and never as a “saviour” in BN history.

But Sim did not act like a “saviour” for MCA and Gerakan, or he should have spoken up for the MCA President, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and Gerakan President, Datuk Mah Siew Keong who are afraid of losing their Ministerial posts by making it clear to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that the Ministerial motion in Parliament on May 26 to “fast-track” Hadi’s hudud bill is a fundamental breach of 43-year Barisan Nasional policy and consensus that hudud violates the Malaysian Constitution and not suitable for a multi-religious Malaysia where Muslims comprise 62% and non-Muslims 38% of the population.

Sim should have spoken up in support of the proposal that the Prime Minister and all the leaders of the 14 Barisan Nasional component parties should make a joint declaration three days before polling day, i.e. by 15th June 2016, to reaffirm the Constitutional principle and the 43-year Barisan Nasional consensus to reject Hadi’s hudud bill, as well as to state in no uncertain terms that the Ministerial motion by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said was a great mistake as it violated the Constitution and the Barisan Nasional consensus and to ask for her resignation from the Cabinet.

Sim should have warned that if the fundamental principles of the Malaysian Constitution, the 1963 Malaysia Agreement and the 43-year Barisan Nasional consensus are allowed to be violated with impunity, it could lead to the disintegration of the Malaysian Federation.

Did Sim say anyone of these sentiments? Not at all, which is why Sim failed big time in the first appearance of SUPP President as a saviour of MCA and Gerakan in BN history.

But is SUPP the “saviour” for MCA and Gerakan because of its results in the recently-held Sarawak state general elections?

Let us look at the record of SUPP over the years.

In the 2001 Sarawak state general election, SUPP won 16 State Assembly seats in Sarawak, which was reduced to 11 in the 2006 Sarawak General Election and further slashed to just six seats in the 2011 Sarawak General Election.

Yes, SUPP did better in the recently-held 2016 Sarawak State General Election when it won seven Sarawak State General Election.

It is a terrible indictment on the “bad times” that MCA and Gerakan have fallen that they could glorify and idolise the SUPP President when SUPP won only one extra seat in the recent Sarawak General Election, which is still a far cry from their 16 seats in 2001.

Sim is no “saviour” but a “pretender” of a saviour!

Lim Kit Siang DAP Parliamentary Leader & MP for Gelang Patah