Liong Sik has my grudging respect for standing his ground calling on Najib to resign and his readiness to face Najib in court
Former MCA President Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik has my grudging respect for standing his ground calling on Datuk Seri Najib Razak to resign as Prime Minister and his readiness to face Najib in court.
It is a pity however that he has been abandoned by the MCA leadership.
As the MCA annual general meeting is being held this weekend, the MCA delegates have an opportunity to decide whether to hew to the line laid down by the MCA leaders or to strike out with their heads high to give their former President their fullest support.
The important reason why MCA’s eminent position in the Barisan Nasional coalition government suffered when it was slashed from 31 MPs and 76 State Assembly representatives in 2004 GE to 7 MPs and 11 State Assembly representatives in the 2013 GE was because of the party’s failure to take a courageous and principled stand on the “Major Rights and Major Wrongs” in the country.
MCA would be repeating such a fatal mistake if it is not prepared to give full backing to its former President to stand up on the current “Major Rights and Major Wrongs” in the country – in particular over the twin mega scandals of the RM50 billion 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts just before the 13th General Election.
In fact, MCA delegates should show the way for all political parties in the country and ask the MCA President, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and all MCA office bearers and parliamentary candidates in the 13th General Elections to declare whether they had any pecuniary interest in the two mega scandals concerned, in particular whether they had received any funding from Najib’s RM2.6 billion banking accounts for 13th General Election campaigning.
Former Minister and Barisan Nasional Backbenchers’ Club (BNBBC) Chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Samad had admitted receiving RM1 million from Najib’s account with the RM2.6 billion “donation” from an Arabic donor for 13GE campaigning.
The three MCA Ministers, Liong Tiong Tai, Wee Ka Siong and Ong Ka Chuan, and all MCA parliamentary candidates (the remaining four who won and the 30 who lost) should declare before the MCA annual general meeting whether they had received funding from Najib’s account with the RM2.6 billion “donation” for their 13GE campaign, and if so, the amount of such funding.
Has the MCA annual general meeting no stand on the twin mega scandals which have even caused the Rulers to issue an unprecedented and historic statement on Tuesday, calling for a swift and transparent investigation as Najib’s failure to resolve allegations of corruption had created a “crisis of confidence” in the country?
As the first political party in the country to hold a national delegates’ conference after the Rulers’ historic statement, the MCA annual general meeting this weekend should rise up to the occasion and challenge to respond in a responsible and exemplary manner to the Rulers’ concern about three issues confronting Malaysia – the 1MDB scandal, the parlous state of the rule of law and the frayed and fragile state of national unity in the country.
The MCA AGM delegates this weekend should not repeat the mistakes of the past in closing their eyes to the “Major Rights and Major Wrongs” in the country, and in this context, the MCA delegates cannot ignore the shocking accusation that the Umno/Barisan Nasional government had deliberately turned the Bersih 4 protest into a racial issue to divert attention from the 1MDB imbroglio.
This is because this accusation is not made by the Opposition or by any ordinary politician but by the former Prime Minister of 22 years, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who also accused the Najib administration of organising the Sept. 16 Red Shirts rally, with its provocative and racial slurs.
The MCA Ministers must explain how they can be a party to a government responsible for these two stains on nation-building, which caused the Rulers in their statement to “remind leaders of political parties and non-governmental organisations not to sensationalise racial and religious issues to garner support” and warn that “the harmony and solidarity of the people should be safeguarded at all times and never be sacrificed for shallow political aims”.
Can the MCA general assembly this weekend measure up to this sudden and unexpected political challenge of the times?