Gear "R": Selepas Gerakan, MCA juga mahu keluar dari BN

KUALA LUMPUR, 25 Ogos: Selepas Gerakan, MCA pula mengugut untuk mengkaji kedudukan mereka dalam Barisan Nasional (BN) jika Umno terus menerus dengan slogan ketuanan Melayunya.

Calon Presiden MCA yang disokong oleh kepimpinan parti itu sekarang, Datuk Ong Tee Keat ketika bercakap di Pahang berkata, jika Umno terus dengan slogan ketuanan Melayu dan tidak membuat reformasi, anggota BN yang lain termasuk MCA akan meninggalkan BN.

Sebelum ini, Pemangku Persiden Gerakan, Datuk Dr Koh Tsu Koon memberitahu, bukan sahaja Gerakan mengkaji untuk keluar BN, parti-parti lain juga membuat kajian yang sama.

Penasihat Gerakan, Tun Lim Keng Yaik pula berkata, ia terserah kepada perwakilan parti itu yang akan bermesyuarat tidak lama lagi.

"Jika kami keluar BN nanti, kami tidak akan memperjuangkan satu kaum sahaja bahkan menjadi parti pelbagai kaum," kata Ong Tee Kiat, Naib Presiden MCA sebagaimana yang dilaporkan oleh akhbar Cina, Nanyang Siangpau.

Sebelum ini, seorang lagi calon Presiden MCA, Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek, berkata, "MCA perlu mengkaji sikapnya seumpama 'orang gaji' kepada Umno."

Ong Tee Kiat dan Chua Soi Lek, ketika mereka berlumba untuk merebut hati perwakilan MCA menjadikan Umno sebagai tempat mereka memukul (punching bag), tulis Leslie Lau, wartawan laman web malaysiainsider.com.

-SIASAH

TP - "Jika kami keluar BN nanti. kami tidak akan memperjuangkan satu kaum sahaja bahkan menjadi parti pelbagai kaum."...PAS boleh, PKR boleh, DAP pun boleh... Kalau BN memang tak sesuai sangat-sangat... banyak sangat parti... masing-masing nak perjuang bangsa masing-masing... majmuk kejadahnya macam tu?

MCA branches want quick end to investigations

PETALING JAYA: Tired of the mud-slinging which is hurting the nation, MCA grassroots leaders are demanding that investigations into the sodomy allegation against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim be wrapped up soon.

"We call on the police and the Attorney-General's Chambers to complete investigations quickly," said Lee Chong Beng, a spokesperson for seven Petaling Jaya Utara MCA branches.

Lee was representing the MCA branches of SS2 Town Centre, SS2, SS4, People's Park, Gardenia Centre, Taman Mayang and Damansara.

All seven branches have a membership of about 1,000 people.

Lee, who is also the SS2 Town Centre branch chairman, said the more the investigations dragged on, there would be mud-slinging between the parties.
"All these allegations, which are going back and forth, are causing untold damage to the economy, peace and unity of the nation," said Lee.

He added that their decision to speak up was also spurred by the sudden emergence of the Hospital Pusrawi medical report.

-NST Online

SAPP unrepentant in show-cause reply

KOTA KINABALU, July 29 — The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) remained unrepentant in its reply today to a Barisan Nasional show-cause letter, saying it will stick to its decision to move or support a no-confidence motion against Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi unless the Prime Minister resolves issues in its eight-point declaration.

"The statements we have made follow the failure of the Prime Minister to take action on matters brought up by the SAPP to him. The Sabah people are not satisfied with the failure to take action to solve the issues," SAPP secretary-general Datuk Richard Yong said in a letter dated July 29 and sent by facsimile at 4pm to BN secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

"Until action is taken on the matters contained in the 'Declaration of the people of Sabah for change in the country', we stress that we will repeat and continue our plan to support a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi," he wrote, appending the declaration with the letter.

Tengku Adnan said the 14-member BN will hold a management committee meeting on Aug 6 to decide on SAPP's affiliation. The ruling coalition can either issue a warning, suspend or sack the party, which contributes two MPs and a deputy chief minister in Sabah.

Late yesterday, SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Lee said the letter would be sent via courier, the way it was received, exactly 30 days for the party to explain its actions. “The contents of the reply will be to reiterate the reasons for the no-confidence vote on the prime minister, the eight-point declaration and that we maintain our stand," said the former Sabah chief minister.

"It is up to BN to take whatever action on us. SAPP is ready for any consequences," he told reporters after meeting party members and supporters here last night.

On June 20, the SAPP supreme council endorsed the decision to support a vote of no confidence against Abdullah, but no decision was made to pull out from the BN coalition.

The declarations endorsed by the SAPP supreme council, among others, were that the government shall be people-centric based on good governance and civil society, and non-racial politics based on a progressive, just and harmonious society; that Sabah shall have political autonomy whereby the government shall be formed and run by the people of Sabah; that Sabah and other oil-producing states shall be entitled to a 20 per cent petroleum royalty and that the Labuan Federal Territory be returned to Sabah and be governed as a special region.

Meanwhile, Yong also said that throughout the 30-day period, SAPP was not invited to three BN meetings, on June 19, 24 and 26, and felt it was improper, adding that "it was as though we (SAPP) were no longer part of the coalition."

-TMI