KUALA LUMPUR: Kedah DAP has been advised by the party leadership to reconsider its decision to pull out from the Pakatan Rakyat-led state government, a party source said.
The state DAP was also advised to tone down its discontent with Pas Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak ahead of the Manek Urai by-election, according to the source.
While the party leadership acknowledged the Kedah DAP’s grievances about the pig abattoir issue and administrative concerns, the source said the withdrawal decision was hasty and lacked political maturity.
The source said although Kedah DAP had only one lawmaker in the state government, the withdrawal would impact the credibility of DAP’s position in the opposition pact which had been affected when its Jelapang assemblyman Hee Yit Fong became an independent and contributed to PR losing its majority in Perak.
“They (Kedah DAP) have unofficially been told to be patient and look at the bigger picture. We don’t want this issue to hurt PR’s campaign in Manek Urai,” the source pointed out.
According to him, the Kedah PR-led government was among the first to be formed following the March 8, 2008 general elections. The source also said the ruler had absolute confidence in the PR lawmakers governing the state.
“Lawmakers must live up to their expectations after taking the oath of office to serve the people,” he said adding while DAP had every right to voice its opinions in Kedah but it should not be to the extent where it would provide political mileage to its opponents.
The source said with Kedah Menteri Besar’s commitment to sort out the matter and close ranks, the DAP leadership would in principle refrain from endorsing Kedah DAP’s decision to withdraw from PR at DAP’s central executive committee (CEC) meeting expected anytime soon.
“We want to strengthen PR and not be blamed to indirectly cause another crisis of confidence,” he also said.
On July 1, Kedah DAP chairman Thomas Su announced the state DAP had pulled out from the state PR-led government following the demolition of an illegal pig slaughterhouse in Alor Setar.
However, the decision by the Kedah DAP must be endorsed by the party’s CEC to be effective.
Meanwhile, DAP deputy chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw told The Edge Malaysia on July 3 that the CEC had yet to receive an official notification from the Kedah DAP on its withdrawal. Hence, the committee had not fixed a date to deliberate on the matter.
He said the leadership was hands-on on the matters in Kedah for it had been several months since the state DAP alleged Azizan was less sensitive to the needs of non-Malays.
Dr Tan also said the matter could have been avoided if an abattoir in Alor Setar had been built before demolishing the previous abattoir, which was deemed illegal.
“The world is not going to end if the Menteri Besar was to delay the demolition of the abattoir. The demolition had hurt the feelings of the Chinese,” Tan who is MP of Kepong said.
However, Tan was confident Azizan could be realistic in resolving the issue and to appease all parties. He said Azizan would also not want Barisan Nasional to seize the issue and use it for political mileage.
